


The Many Sides of Kermit Griffin

by CynthiaK2014



Category: Kung Fu: The Legend Continues
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-31 03:51:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 42,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3963349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CynthiaK2014/pseuds/CynthiaK2014
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All the many sides of our favorite detective and his Shaolin, while they work cases and decide what to do with their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Christmas Kermit

**Author's Note:**

> There are some original characters from another fandom, Beauty and the Beast. I may get around to posting them someday. Just know that St. James was also a mercenary. I started this series in 1999 and wrote up through 2001.
> 
> First person POV
> 
> *Means thoughts*

A Christmas Kermit  
*************************

I woke up with the headache from hell. Rolling over with a groan, I lay there with my eyes squinted at the flashing numbers that told me I had maybe 45 minutes until I had to be at work. Thoughts of a hot shower brought me out of the rumpled bed. Nightmares are a part of my life that I accepted long ago but they'd never given me a headache before.

Standing under the steaming water, I soaped automatically and rubbed shampoo into my short spiky hair. Could it be a side effect of the tincture for the re-occurring fever that I'd had to take twice more since the first trip to New York in September? I smiled, remembering the unusual people I'd met while giving my deposition to DA Maxwell. St. James, the blast from my past and her family Above and Below were fond memories indeed.

The pressure had eased somewhat in the heat of the bath and I managed to get dressed before the pounding returned. It was going to be a long day but I'd volunteered for Christmas Eve so the guys with families could be there for them. Maybe the station house coffee would chase the pain away. God knows it cures most of the other ills of the world.

Driving to work was an exercise in patience with every nut in the city on the road to finish up their last minute shopping. As much road rage as I saw, it could be a real busy day at the precinct. My head was hurting too badly to add my own anger to the mix. It was all I could do to keep my stomach in place. 

I leaned against the car and gathered my strength. If I could just get to my desk, I'd be fine. Some coffee and a little computer time to get my mind off of my body's aches and I'd be fine. *Just keep telling yourself that, Griffin.* Just my luck to come down with the flu for Christmas. They'd have to call in one of the others or work shorthanded without me and I wasn't about to let that happen.

I acknowledged the waves with a flick of my hand, not sure if my head might not just fall off if I nodded. Making it to the safety of my office with a short detour for a cup of the coffee that appeared to have been brewing for a day or so, I collapsed into the leather seat and closed my eyes. Not even the green shades were helping.

Little pulses of sharp shooting pains were now radiating down into my neck and I began to wonder just what kind of flu this was. Memory picked this moment to remember the brush with the Consortium and the trick I'd played on their computers, not to mention the run in with the Tong and the foiling of the museum robbery.

I reached for the phone and a number I'd only recently memorized. Waiting for the relays to set up the call so no one could trace it, I rubbed my temples with suddenly shaking hands. Not St. James. Not when she'd finally found the love that she so richly deserved. Elliot Burch was just the kind of man I would have picked for her. Kind, intelligent, brave and so in love with her, it showed in every glance.

"Hello. Burch residence." St. James' alto tones echoed down the line to him.

"St. James. Griffin. Has there been any trouble there?" My voice tried to convey the urgency I'd begun to feel in earnest.

"None. What's wrong? Do you need me to come?" She gave him strength just with her matter-of-fact tone.

"It's probably nothing, just a bad case of the holiday flu catching up with me. Does that tincture have any side effects?"

"Not that I've ever heard. You'd better have Caine take a look at you. Maybe it's an allergic reaction. They can happen at any time, even with something you're used to eating or drinking."

"Maybe. How are the twins enjoying Christmas?" The sound of her voice was better medicine than ten aspirin. Her humorous tales of Winterfest and the babies’ reaction to the colored lights and smells of the party made me laugh out loud. I let her go with a 'merry Christmas' and a promise to give Caine a call.

Okay, so I'm paranoid. With my memories and enemies, it pays to be. Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you. I don't know who said it first but clichés are no less true for being said repeatedly. By now, the pain was shooting down my arms and for a brief moment I wondered if I was having a heart attack before I felt myself slide out of the chair towards the floor. 

Just my luck.

************

The voices were muffled and I couldn't move. The office. The pain. The sudden inability to move. I should be freaking out but the reason I wasn't had a hand on my forehead.

"Kermit. It is Caine. You will be . . . fine. We are going to move you soon. Sleep now." His calm tones soothed and his fingers stroked my temples with almost tender movements. A little more pressure and I felt myself sliding back into the darkness.

*************

I awoke in an unfamiliar bed with a couple of flickering candles providing the only illumination. The sheets were soaked with sweat beneath me and the covers were twisted around me, as if I'd been having the grandfather of all nightmares. But the figure in the chair by the bed wasn't from any bad dream. Peter sat hunched over with his head in his hands, his eyes on the floor, the very picture of misery.

He looked like shit and I wondered why he was there. Sure we were friends and his father was probably why my head was still attached to my shoulders, but he looked like someone had just run over his dog. Time to find out what was wrong.

"Peter." Damn, when had my voice gotten so weak?

His head shot up and he reached out a hand to me that I suddenly realized I was too weak to grab. He seemed to understand, kneeling by the bed and gripping my hand tightly. His smile was a poor imitation of his normal grin.

"Welcome back, Kermit. Don't you ever do that to me again. Promise me. Never again." His tones were fierce and I might have believed in the anger if I hadn't felt the tremors in his hand.

"Promise." I licked my parched lips and he let go of my hand to grab a glass of water on the bedside table. He lifted my head gently and I managed to drain half the glass before he set it aside. "What am I promising not to do again?"

"I came in to ask for help with my computer and found you passed out on the floor. Pop came in and said you'd been poisoned. Somebody drugged the water coming into your apartment. We brought you to my place so the guys could check yours without disturbing you. Pop found the canister in the basement. They're checking for prints now."

"What kind of drug?" I licked my lips again and he let me finish the glass this time.

"I don't remember the name but it was something that should have killed you. Pop said that some tincture you'd been taking countered the drug so we could get to you in time. Why didn't you tell me you'd been having problems?" He sounded so hurt, I found myself apologizing.

"Didn't want to be a bother." I didn't have the energy to explain why I tried to keep him at arm's length. Not that it mattered, I already loved him too much to burden him with a worn out, middle aged mercenary with waking nightmares that would one day kill me.

"Damn you, Kermit. Don't you dare hide behind that 'I don't give a shit' facade. We're friends and I care for you." His hand was still behind my head, those long fingers stroking the skin at the nape of my neck. I felt a shiver run down my body and he pulled up the sheet, thinking I was cold.

"Thank you." I hope he realized that I meant both his statement and his action.

"Do you need more water? Pop wants you to drink a lot to flush the poison out of your system." He had to remove his hand to pour more water out of the porcelain pitcher. I managed to hitch myself higher in the bed and he punched the pillow up to support me. He still had to hold the glass for me but this time I finished it.

"How long have I been out?" I ached all over as if I'd been bedridden for days.

"About ten hours. Aching?" He took my nod for a yes and that grin flashed across his face. "Pop left me some herbs so you could take a hot bath. Guaranteed to take the aches out. Also, a good way to absorb some more of their healing properties. I'll be right back."

He disappeared so quickly I felt my head spin. No, that was the dizziness come back with a vengeance. I tried to wrap my mind around who could have drugged the water but all my thoughts were fuzzy. Now that I was semi-conscious, I took a good look around Peter's bedroom. A few pictures hung on the wall; a dresser with what looked like a twelve-inch tall hunk of crystal sitting on the top crowded the wall to the left. 

I was propped against a bookcase headboard and out of the corner of my eye I could see several books and a clock radio but I couldn't turn my head to read the titles. From what I could see, the kid had good taste. The colors were dark and warm. The coverlet under my fingers was soft cotton flannel in shades of purple and blue. I stroked it gently and felt like lying down and pulling it over my head.

I didn't want to think any more. Not about who tried to kill me, or what kind of consternation I'd left behind at the precinct or even about how much I wanted Peter to crawl in under the covers with me and hold me in his arms. Especially not that.

"Okay, Kermit. Sit up for me so I can get this robe on you. I don't want you to catch a chill getting to the bathroom." Peter held a thick terry cloth robe in one hand while he drew back the cover with the other.

I grabbed for it because I'd suddenly realized I was naked under the sheet. He just chuckled and helped me sit up. He had to move my arms into the warm sleeves because they didn't want to cooperate. He was so tender with me that I could feel tears forming and I had to blink hard to keep them back. It must be a side effect of the drugs, I decided while swinging my legs over the side of the bed with his help.

The trip to the bathroom was a little exercise in futility on my part. He had to practically carry me in and help me over the side of the tub. Unwrapping me out of my mummylike wrappings, he eased me into the steaming water. The scent of some unidentified herbs wafted up from the slightly green water and I soon felt calmer than I had in a long time.

He fussed with the small heater near the door which was heating the room to sauna levels, making sure that the draft wasn't right on me. I'd given up caring that he'd seen my scarred old body in all its ugliness. The water was already beginning the healing process. He knelt by the side of the tub with a handle-less cup that smelled like the herbs in the bathtub.

I took it and drank it down, enjoying its minty freshness and the way it seemed to blow all the cobwebs from my fevered brain. He was watching me with such a serious expression on his face that it almost made me blush. 

"Are you going to be okay if I leave you for a bit?"

"Sure, kid. I'll just soak for a while." I watched him go with a sigh of relief. Good thing he left when he did or I might have done something really stupid like ask him to bathe me. One of those little fantasies that I brought out now and then in the shower when I pictured a wet Peter. I'd seen him once in the Precinct showers when he was washing up after an all night stakeout.

Closing my eyes, I unrolled the ten-second reel of memory film that had fueled a hundred fantasies in the last year. By slowing it, I could make it stretch out for quite a while. Not to mention, I can do a hell of a job of cutting and splicing in other stolen memories to make my own Peter-movie.

"Hey, the water's cooling down. You ready to get out?" His voice wove its way into my waking dream and I opened lazy eyes to see him holding out a towel invitingly. The aches were gone when I moved but sitting up, I feel dizzy again. Oh hell, back to reality.

"Take it easy and come on up. Hold on to me so you won't fall."

*Too late, Peter. I fell long ago and harder than I've ever fallen before.* Some joke the universe played on me. Who ever said the Goddess doesn't have a sense of humor. I let him dry my tingling body and I prayed as hard as I've ever prayed before that I wouldn't disgrace myself in front of him.

"That's good enough, my friend. Come on back to bed."

Gods, how I've longed to hear those words from his lips. Those pouting, devil-may-care, eminently kissable lips. But not like this, I brood while we head back to the bedroom. He lowers me down to clean fresh sheets. He must have been stripping and changing the bed while I was soaking.

He had another cup of hot tea ready for me but this time; I could see the wicker tray and the teapot with the towel wrapped around it. He fluffed the pillow behind me and I finished the tea before lying back down gratefully. Just that much of a walk and I was suddenly exhausted.

"Sleep, now. Pop will be back soon to check you out. Your color's better. You were so white when I found you collapsed on the floor." His hands tucked me in and kept smoothing the cover over me, lost in the memory of earlier.

I managed to snake a hand out from under the blankets to capture one of his. Catching his eye, I gripped it firmly. "Thank you, Peter. Thank you for finding me and taking such good care of me. You're a good friend."

His eyes lit up and that beaming smile came back, the one I'd missed while he was going through that rough patch. "You're my best friend, Kermit. I won't let anything bad happen to you."

I manage a smile and close my eyes against the tears. Damn drugs. Too late, kid. The only thing that could hurt me now would be for you to leave me. And one of these days, you will. It's your destiny, the one Caine talks about sometimes. You're going to be one hell of a Shaolin when you finally make your choice. 

Falling asleep, I can feel his thumb rubbing soothing circles on the back of my hand. He already has the healing touch.

**********

Voices blended into my dreams.

"The last of the poison has left his system." Caine's gentle tones filled my head.

"So, he's going to be okay. Right, Pop?" The plaintive note in Peter's voice almost made me smile.

"Don't call me Pop." Caine's admonition was said with a sigh. "And yes . . . he will eventually be fine."

"What do you mean, eventually? Could he have a relapse?"

A long silence followed and I felt Caine's touch at my temple.

"His chi has been greatly disturbed, my son. Perhaps it would be best if we brought him to my workroom."

"No!" Peter's response was immediate and heartfelt if the explosive whisper was any indication. "I mean, I don't think we should move him again. If you need to cleanse his aura or something, you can do it here as well as there."

"Perhaps you are right, Peter. We should not risk a chill in his condition."

"His condition? I thought you said he was getting better."

"He is. But his body has been weakened by the trauma. He must be very carefully watched. I was going to cleanse his chi by massaging his body with this special oil to help . . . strengthen his immune system. But I must join the Ancient at the hospital for the birth of Lu Cho's child. It will be a difficult labor and she speaks no English."

"Massage?" Peter's voice went slightly higher and he had to clear his throat. "Um, I could do that. You taught me the technique when I was a child at the temple. I still remember how."

"Very well, my son. I will leave Kermit in your hands. I will just perform a preliminary cleansing while you begin the preparations for dinner. Soup and crackers for Kermit. Something nourishing for when he awakens."

I hear Peter leave and feel the blankets drawn away. Even without opening my eyes, I can feel Caine's hands begin the trip over my body. Starting at the crown of my head, moving across my chest, traveling over my stomach and groin, he finished down at my feet. Peace flows through me and I finally feel as if all of my parts are connected again.

The blankets are drawn up around my neck and he touches my forehead. "Sleep now, Kermit. All is well."

I manage a contented murmur, which I hope he understands is a thank you before falling back into the warm depths of the night.

**************

I awoke a few hours later to the smell of vegetable soup and the touch of Peter's hand on my forehead. Opening my eyes, I surprised him into a smile.

"Welcome back. You hungry?"

I checked my stomach and head. Moving cautiously, I discovered I was pain free. "Yeah, I could eat."

"Good. Let's get you propped up. It's not often I serve someone dinner in bed. Savor the memory." He made a face at me and I laughed on cue.

Savor is exactly what I'll do with this memory. This is the stuff of fantasy. At least of my fantasies. I pull myself up and he pushes a couple more pillows behind me so I'm cushioned but upright. On the side table, I notice an insulated container of soup has joined the teapot. Peter fills a small bowl and hands it to me.

"No spoon. Just drink it down as you would a cup of tea. Miss Manners will forgive you, just this once." He teased me into a chuckle as my trembling hands gripped the bowl.

It tasted good. Better than good. It seemed I hadn't eaten in days. I drained the bowl of broth and handed it back to him in exchange for a napkin to catch the dribbles. He refilled it and this time put some of the vegetables in with the broth. I chewed them slowly and savored the taste of crunchy carrots and firm potatoes.

This time I traded the bowl for a teacup. The familiar scent of herbs filled my nostrils. Finishing, I leaned my head back against the pillows and cradled the empty cup in my hands. Even after all my sleep, I still felt tired.

"You're feeling better." It was a statement not a question and I nodded. "You look like yourself again. You scared me earlier."

"I know. I'm sorry. The price I pay for my checkered past." I shrugged and tried to look nonchalant but I could tell from his expression that I'd failed.

"Someday, you're going to tell me all about it, Kermit. Friends don't need secrets between them." His voice for one eerie moment sounded just like Caine's. 

I shook my head. "Old news, Peter. Just like me. Better left in the shadows."

"No, I don't believe that." He leaned forward and touched the back of his hand to my cheek in an incredibly tender gesture. "Not with me. You can leave the darkness when you're with me. I know that now."

I couldn't think of anything to say in response to that astonishing statement. I wonder what he saw in my face before he smiled and moved back, plucking a glass bottle from under the table. When he uncorked it, the now familiar scent filled the room.

"Pop told me to give you a massage to help cleanse your chi. Scoot down and roll over so I can start. Do you need to go to the bathroom first?"

I literally didn't know what to say to this suddenly confident man who looked so serenely back at me. I opened my mouth and shut it again before realizing how stupid I must look. "Um, yeah. It must have been awhile since I last went."

"Okay. Here's your robe. I'll help you to the bathroom and leave you to take care of business." He matter-of-factly handed me the robe and gave me an arm to lean on to the bathroom. After I shut the door behind him, I did what I needed to and washed my hands in the sink. Staring at myself in the mirror on the medicine chest, I wondered what had happened and why Peter was suddenly so sure of himself.

He tapped at the door and I could hear the worry in his voice. "Are you okay, Kermit?"

"Yeah. Coming out now." I finished drying my hands and headed for the door, suddenly glad for the strong shoulder to lean on. My legs had developed the consistency of noodles. He got me back into bed, flat on my stomach with the pillows thrown onto the floor out of the way. I turned my head so I could watch him.

"In the candlelight, your eyes are so green. Is that one of the reasons you got the nickname Kermit?" He poured oil into one hand and rubbed his hands together to warm the viscous fluid before laying them gently on my shoulders. Oh, it felt so good to be touched with such tender caring.

I hummed contentedly and he chuckled while stroking lightly up and down my back. He magically knew where the sore spots were and rubbed harder on each point before moving on to the next one. I felt his fingers trace a particularly nasty scar on my lower back and all my contentment faded in the reality of what he was seeing.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to bring up old memories. They're just scars. War wounds from the past. But there's so many of them." For just a moment, his voice faltered and his hands lay flat against my spine.

"The past sometimes comes to life when you least expect it. I'm sorry you have to see them."

"No." He pressed hard for a moment and then began again the long stroking movements. "That's not what I meant at all. Do you really think of them as ugly? I don't. They're like the rings of a tree, telling the story of each year that's gone by." He was moving down my legs now, after flowing over my buttocks with a long sweep of his hands. The tension in my legs was strong and he gentled out all the knots with pressure point massage that soon had me sighing.

"Some years are good years,” he massaged my left calf which is free of any scars. "And others are years of pain and suffering." He moved to the right where I had one bullet hole and two stab wounds in scar tissue. Gently, he touched each scar with his healing touch and I felt myself relax. Whatever point he was trying to make, I didn't think I'd regret listening.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed at my feet, he slowly massaged each one into nirvana. I began to feel weightless while the blood flowed lower and still lower. Oh no. Not that. I tried to think of something. Anything that would deflate my rising desire. But the points that Peter pressed seemed to lead directly to my groin.

*Okay. We've got trouble here but as long as I don't turn over and expose myself, I should be all right. I'll just pretend to go to sleep and he'll cover me up and then I can fix the problem.* I tried to relax completely but part of me had a mind of its own and just kept getting harder.

"Kermit. I'm feeling some tension here. Why don't you flip over so I can get your front?" Peter's voice was so matter-of-fact and what he asked was so impossible.

"Maybe tomorrow. I'm really sleepy."

"Really? The muscles here are super tense." And he ran his hands up my legs and over my buttocks, coming to rest on the small of my back. That did it. Steel had nothing on my cock at the moment.

"That's one of the reasons, I really shouldn't turn over right now, Peter." I try to match his tone of voice. The man to man one that men use to bullshit each other.

"I doubt you have anything I haven't seen before, Kermit. Did I ever tell you about my first real crush on one of the priests of the temple?" His hands were burning me with their heat. "It was years later before I realized that I swung both ways. Bisexual was what my Psych professor called it in college."

Peter? I'd always thought the kid was straight as they come. Why now? Why was he telling me this now? I could feel the trembling start deep inside of me. Suddenly I was more afraid of him than any ten Tong hatchet men.

"Don't be afraid, Kermit. I won't hurt you." His voice was so gentle but his hands were strong as they turned me over in his bed.

I looked up at him, into the beautiful blue eyes that had mesmerized me the first day I saw him. "Yes, you will, Peter. You scare the hell out of me."

He nudged my legs apart so he could slide up between them, the rough denim of his jeans teasing my skin. "I love you, Kermit. I don't know when or how but when I thought I might lose you today, I realized I couldn't hide anymore." And he took me in his warm oily hands with a lover's touch.

I couldn't help myself and I arched up. This was the culmination of every fantasy I'd had over the last few years. His touch knew, stroking along the vein below the flaring head. The glide of those long fingers almost destroyed me.

"You're so beautiful here. Straight and proud with such a lovely shade of plum. Delectable." His words would have hardened me further but I was already to the breaking point. Which I reached when I felt his tongue lick the first drops of precum from the tiny slit. He took me deep and his hum of appreciation brought my hips off the bed and the head of my cock to the back of his throat.

I thought I'd never stop coming. Each time he tongued me; I jerked and came some more. I lay exhausted on the sweaty sheets with my brain melted into a puddle of nonthinking matter. I felt him crawl up the bed and pull me into his arms. My head found that hollow between his neck and shoulder by sheer instinct. His silk shirt teased my cheek with its fragrance of fabric and Peter-sweat. 

I took a deep breath and held it, trying to imprint his scent into my inner being. If this never happened again, I'd at least have that.

"Why now, Peter?" I made my mouth work.

"Because I could have lost you before I ever had you. I knew you'd never make a move because of some bizarre belief that you're not worthy of me. Silly man." I could hear the smile in his voice. "Just holding you, made me come when you did. That's what you do to me."

Moving my hips, I felt the damp spot on his jeans. "Really. How interesting."

"Don't get cocky. Both of us are going to last longer next time." He feathered little strokes against the cheeks of my ass and I felt my cock come alive again. Only Peter could have brought me back from the dead so quickly.

"Oh, you're good. I guess it's true what they say about experience beating out youth." Peter kissed my ear, tonguing it before biting the lobe gently.

Raising up, I looked down into his eyes. Searching for the truth of why we were here. But all I could see was the love, shining out of the sparkling blue gaze. I fought to hold onto my disbelief but it melted away under his burning glance. Oh hell, what was I thinking? Could it really be this easy?

"Yes. But it will be easier if you'd get naked. Maybe, then I'll remember what it is we're supposed to do." I managed a quavery smile and had to hold on while he whooped and flipped me over on my back.

He was out of the bed and stripping before I could catch my breath. But that was a lost cause anyway, once I saw that beautiful body glowing in the candlelight. "Like what you see, sailor?" He stood hands on hips with his thick cock jutting out in front of him and I licked my lips in anticipation.

"Oh yeah!" I reached over and tugged him into bed. He came in a rush; all those long lean limbs entrusted into my arms. The feel of skin against skin was beyond any fantasy I'd ever dreamed. We spent long moments just touching each other, learning the hot spots on each other's body. The inside of his elbow when I licked it with a rough tongue made him moan. His nipples were instantly hard and aching with just a couple of licks.

But his cock was a thing of true beauty that I shaped tenderly with my hands and mouth. It had been a long time since I'd deep-throated a man but the old ability came back with a vengeance when I got my tongue wrapped around him. His moans were intense by the time I upped the ante with a slick finger behind his balls and up into his opening.

He hiccuped once, going tense for a moment then relaxing totally. When I touched his prostate, he bucked and came in long spurts of salty sweet liquid. I drank him down like a fine wine and slowly let him slip from my lips when he was done. I've never seen his face so relaxed. For the first time since I'd known him, he looked totally fucked.

Which brought me to my next question. I slid up beside him and his arms closed around me in a fierce hug. "Peter. Just how much experience do you have with men?"

He blushed and opened his eyes. "A little mutual masturbation and a couple of blowjobs. I never trusted anyone enough for the rest of it."

"And you trust me? What are you thinking of? I could hurt you. I don't want that." The very thought of a virgin Peter was enough to stiffen my resolution among other parts of me.

"I do trust you. And you trust me or we'd have never gotten this far. When you can admit you love me too, then we can talk about you completing my education in man to man love making." He sounded so sure of himself that I let him lay me back and bring me off again with that wickedly mobile tongue.

Pulling up the covers, he brought me back into his arms and slipped one of his legs between mine so we were joined along the entire length of our bodies. He even snagged a pillow for us to share. Suddenly I thought of Caine. 

"What if your father comes back tonight?"

"If you don't think he set us up, then that drug did some serious damage to your brain. I mean, come on. He had to go to the hospital to help out one of his people. Who's at least two months away from her due date." Peter snorted. "I figured it out when he was suggested moving you to his workshop. He's known for some time how I feel about you."

"And he probably knew how I felt as well. So, you think he'll be okay with this?" I asked hesitantly. The kid really does look up to the wily old man.

"Oh yeah!" He imitated me exactly and kissed me.

Oh yeah, indeed.


	2. A Snowy Kermit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's their one month anniversary but the weather's not cooperating. Or is it?

A Snowy Kermit  
****************************

I looked out of the window, grimacing at the frigid scene before me. The snow was everywhere and the glazing rattled in the frame at each gust of wind. Sighing, I resigned myself to a quiet night. No way Peter could get here now. The radio was proclaiming a blizzard of epic proportions. We already had eight inches on the ground and the real storm hadn't hit yet. It was going to get worse before it got better.

Turning around with my hands in my pockets, I contemplated the table set for two and the wood in the fireplace waiting for a match. So much for our one month anniversary. I smiled at my sense of disappointment. I hadn't thought we'd last a week and here it was 30 days and counting. It hadn't hurt that I'd been flat on my back for five of those days and unable to fight him off.

Yeah, like I'd done much fighting. Snorting in self derision, I knelt and lit the fire. No sense in letting it go to waste. The knock on the door surprised me but I figured it was one of my neighbors needing the loan of something so I opened it with a sarcastic retort ready.

"Hey, gorgeous. Am I late?" Peter stood there, covered from head to foot in a thick layer of snow, waving a bottle of wine in one hand while he beat off the powdery layers with the other.

I dragged him inside and closed out the cold, locking it decisively and throwing on the deadbolt as well. He'd headed straight for the fire that had taken hold with a vengeance, detouring to set the bottle on the table. I headed for the bathroom to get some towels and the robe I'd given him for a late Christmas present. Somehow it had never gone back to his apartment.

When I got back he'd thrown his hat, coat and gloves in the side chair and was struggling with his boots. I threw one of the towels over his head and knelt to help him. His muffled complaints made me grin and I wrenched off his right boot and then his left. His socks were wet and the feet in them cold as ice.

Taking the other towel, I peeled off his socks and began to rub a little color back into the fine boned feet. They were elegant and long with a high arch and the most beautiful toes I've ever seen. Grinning to myself, I wondered when I'd become a toe-man.

"Share the joke?" Peter had rubbed his hair dry and it stuck up in little spikes all over his head.

"You have cute toes." I told him while my fingers itched to comb through his damp curls.

"My toes? That's kinky, Kermit, even for you." He laughed and leaned to kiss me.

Even after thirty days of this, it still surprises me, the instant surge of longing and lust that rises inside of me at the touch of his lips. I don't believe I ever kissed before him no matter how many other mouths I touched. He brings such joy to the act that I am immediately transported to another place. Somewhere warm, safe and very pleasurable.

He rests his forehead against mine and sighs contentedly. "You've got me until the snow stops, love. Maybe two or three days. Whatever shall we do?"

"Make love until we can't move." My wayward tongue always tells the truth around him. I can't understand that.

"Works for me." His grin could light the room in a blackout. "I hope you have oysters, artichokes, figs, pistachios and honey in the place."

"Pistachios?"

"Some Arabian love manuals call them the aphrodisiac of the nut world." He says triumphantly, having gone one up in our little game of name-that-love-potion.

"Hm-m-m, I thought that was almonds. One point to you." I let him have his moment while I mentally check the cupboards. I'd stocked up a week ago then gone on a three-day stakeout so we were in good shape food-wise. Even if he does eat everything in sight and never gains an ounce.

"Are you going to hand me that robe so I can get out of these wet things or did you have something else in mind?" He waggled his eyebrows at me. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

And once again my tongue spoke the truth. "I think you should get out of those wet clothes and take a nice hot shower. Then put on the robe."

"Share with me?" The sudden need in his eyes goes straight to my groin and I nod once. A wet nude Peter is one of the more inspiring sights of my world. I could watch him forever or until he gets tired of my secrets and me.

Standing under the hot water while Peter soaps me with tender knowing strokes, I return the favor and my hands glide over his satin smooth skin wonderingly. I never tire of the feeling of powerful muscles that shiver at my touch. With one hand, I soap his cock with light teasing strokes and feel him arch into me with a groan. Grinning, I lick a squeaky clean nipple and watch his flesh ripple all the way down to his groin.

He starts to return the favor but I'm already dropping to my knees and letting the falling water rinse his steel hard shaft clean. A few more strokes and I lean forward to nibble at the flaring head. He leans back against the green tiled wall and moans. Grinning, I take him in slowly, inch by inch until the head is buried in my throat. I'm so glad that I didn't forget how to do this during the dry years.

I start to hum and he grabs my head to pull me even closer. But he can't get any deeper and I add a little movement with my tongue and he thrusts forward again. I step up the humming and throw in a swallow reflex and am rewarded with a muffled shout and the first pulses of his release. His hands relax and I'm able to flex around him, pulling his climax from him in long salty pulses that I catch on my tongue and savor like the fine vintage he is.

He's totally limp before I let him go regretfully and his hands lift me up into a tight hug and a long kiss of thanks. The water is starting to cool so I urge us out to dry off. I know he's a big boy and he's not going to catch a chill but I still have this need to take care of him. He hasn't called me on it yet but I'm waiting for the moment when he accuses me of smothering him.

But not tonight. Tonight, he's making a game out of drying me with tantalizing little strokes that are slowly turning me on. I don't have his regeneration ability so I'm holding off until I can get him into bed. Then we'll see if my stamina is any match for his strength. And he knows what I'm thinking and takes pity on his aging lover, letting me slide through his hands with a parting kiss to the head of my cock.

We both wear robes to cook dinner. You'd think we'd been together for years the way we weave around each other in the kitchen. He's making the salad while I put the pasta to cook and start the sauce. Peter finishes first and puts the bowl on the table while he starts cutting up the carrots and celery for munching on. He feeds me small pieces every few moments and I lick his fingers for salt to go along with the tart vegetables.

The sauce is bubbling and I taste it, adding more basil.

"Ah-ha! Basil is another aphrodisiac." He said triumphantly.

"I know. Why do you think I use it so much?" I smirk over my shoulder at my back warmer and he slides his arms around me and rests his chin on me.

"You know you don't need the help. Just holding you is such a turn-on for me; I'm walking on air. And knowing that you want me too is so exciting that I can hardly contain myself some days." He speaks with such wonder in his voice that my heart beats a little faster. He has no idea what a miracle he is in my life. And I don't know how to tell him.

"You do okay, kid. I . . . appreciate all you give me." I know I haven't said it right when he sighs and goes back to grate some fresh Parmesan for the pasta. I need some new words to try and make him understand what I'm feeling. I can't lose him now.

We finish up and carry it in to the dining room. He looks pensive when he takes his seat and I touch his shoulder, bringing his face up to me. "I'm not very good as saying what I should. But you give me joy every day."

It's not enough but he's smiling again and he kisses my hand before I move to my own chair. Dinner is good and he polishes his plate with the last piece of French bread. Like I said, he can eat and never gain an ounce.

"What, no desert?" He teases me while we load the dishwater.

"Actually, I already had mine." I remind him with a wink and enjoy the blush when he makes the connection.

"I'll have to see what I can come . . . *up* with." He smirked and I felt a familiar heat begin to simmer. Such a lovely feeling and absent for so long.

"You know, I think there may be some chocolate in the bedroom. Yeah, I think I may have a couple of raspberry cremes on the bedside table."

"I think an early night is called for." His eyes have gone sultry on me and the simmer becomes a rolling boil. "Maybe I'll be able to talk you out of one of those cremes."

"Well . . .” I draw it out slowly. "You can try."

"Oh yeah!" For some reason, he thinks I say that a lot so he's constantly imitating me. Whatever the reason, it always makes me shiver.

The bedroom is chilly and I turn on the electric blanket to warm the bed. "I hate the cold. What the hell am I doing here in the far north?"

He drags me under the covers and warms me with his own body. "The company?"

I chuckle at his hopeful tone. "Must be."

The flannel sheets warm quickly and with one of his long legs between mine and his hand rubbing my stomach in soothing circles, I feel as content as I'd ever felt in my life. I was back to simmer again but I really didn't mind. These moments were few and far between in my battle-scarred life.

"Kermit." His voice was serious and I looked up into his gaze. "Have you ever lied to me?"

What? I hadn't expected that. "No. I've kept you in the dark sometimes but I've never lied to you."

"Do you love me?" His hand moved up to my heart.

Oh, God. This is what I'd been afraid of. He was calling my bluff and asking for the truth. He grows more like his father every day. This one was worthy of the wily old man. I closed my eyes and covered his hand with mine while I ran through my options. I still hadn't lied to myself and I was damned if I'd start lying to him now.

"Yes. You're the miracle I never expected. I haven't dared fall in love since a young woman many years ago. When she died, I just quit feeling." I gripped his hand. 

"Thank you." Peter had tears in his eyes but his smile was blinding. "I love you too. I've always been afraid to let go. It's why Kelly and I didn't work out. But I trusted you from the very beginning."

Oh God. I suddenly feel lightheaded. Peter's trust is more rare than his love. Now it's me who has tears in his eyes. I pull him down for a kiss and this time we take it slow and easy. I can taste the sauce from dinner and the red wine we'd had with it. And maybe just a hint of basil.

He breaks the kiss and looks a question at my smile but I just shake my head because I'm happy and that's a very rare state for me. He seems to understand and he begins to lick and nip his way down my chest; around my nipples with his rough tongue; across my stomach, pausing at my navel to tease it with little pokes; through the coarse curls at my groin with broad laps that sensitize the skin; and finally, with one long tongue wash up my cock, he stops.

"Peter!" My voice has gone husky and I wondered at his cat-ate-the-canary grin.

"Can I have anything I want, Kermit?" He asks while tantalizing my cock with little licks like I was an ice cream cone in his favorite flavor.

"Yes." I threw years of caution to the winds. 

"I want this." He tenderly stroked my cock.

"I'd say you already have it." My brain was finding it hard to come up with words because all the blood was draining into my groin.

"I want this inside of me."

I hadn't thought I could get any harder but guess what? He pinched the nerve at the base of my cock and the feeling subsided. A little.

"You sure? It could hurt the first time or two. And we'll need some things." I tried to think of everything for his comfort and ignore the thoughts from my other head which pretty much consisted of 'take' 'now'.

"Lubricant's in the bedside table. And condoms if we need them. I cleaned myself out before I came over." He spoke so matter-of-factly that it took me a moment to notice the color in his cheeks.

I tugged on his shoulders and wrapped him in a hug. "Peter? You really are sure."

His eyes met mine. So much courage in such a beautiful body. He nodded and I kissed him gently, slowly thrusting my tongue into his mouth and tickling the roof of his mouth. When I pulled away, he protested.

"Sh-h-h. Just like that. Slow and easy and good. Got it?" I asked him seriously. He relaxed onto his back while I reached over to open the drawer for the lubricant he'd stashed away. And the condoms. Which brought up another question.

"I've tested clean for over fifteen years and I haven't had any partners in that time." There, I'd told my darkest secret. All the macho posturing at the precinct was just a facade to cover my lack.

"I wish I could say the same. You know about Kelly. There was one other a while back. I've had negative tests for the last two years but more importantly, Pop says I'm fine. Nothing's lurking inside of me but me." Peter's eyes acknowledged my gift and returned his own.

"No condom?" I asked.

"No condom." He ran a gentle finger down my cheek. "Just you, me and Wet."

I looked down at the tube in my hand and back at him with a question. "Just how through were all those lessons in the temple?"

He laughed out loud and hugged me tight. "I looked it up on the Internet. You really can find anything there."

I buried my own chuckle in his tempting mouth and some serious tongue fucking ensued until he was moving restlessly beneath me. Our cocks were rubbing together and I had to pull away or this was going to be over way too fast. He lay there panting, all his long lean limbs sprawled out on the bed and I had to take a minute and just look at him.

"You look at me as if I'm not real, Kermit. I am."

"I know you are, Peter. You've been my secret fantasy for so long, it's just hard to believe sometimes that you're really here."

"I'm your fantasy?" He lights up like a Roman candle.

"This can not be news to you. Your probably the secret fantasy of . . . oh, five or six of us at the precinct."

"The others don't matter because I'm yours." He says the most amazing things with such matter-of-fact conviction. While I'm shaking my head, he flips open the tube and squeezes out some of the lubricant onto my fingers. "And if you'll put some of that in the proper place, I'll really be yours."

I slide one of my legs between his and pull him towards me onto his side. Latching on to one of his nipples, I simultaneously bite the hardening peak and slide a finger inside the tight ring of muscle that guards his entrance. He freezes for a moment and tightens around me then relaxes with a little sigh. I angle my leg to push his up and he obliges by moving it up over my hip, spreading himself for me.

Long moments are spent in getting him used to my finger's little circles and when I come out for more lube, he frowns. I kiss away the little pout and come back with two fingers. I can feel his lower back muscles rippling in sudden tension and I let him get used to the extra fullness before I begin to move them, in and out with short strokes. Spreading the lubricant well over the channel walls, I move in a little deeper, looking for the gland that should spark his pleasure.

He bucked into me and clutched me hard. "Prostate?" He panted and squirmed against my twisting fingers.

"You really did do your research, didn't you?" I teased him and brushed it again. Some guys experience pain when their prostate gets touched and it was a relief to see that Peter found it pleasurable.

"More." He whimpered when I withdrew again but helped squeeze out more lube into my hand and into his. "I'll help." 

I really love that butter-can't-melt-in-my-mouth-look he gives me. But he pauses when I add the third finger. That's the first point where most guys starting having second thoughts about the whole thing. But I can see him thinking about it, while I just flex my fingers a little at a time to remind the muscle to stay loose. 

Then, I can feel a difference and they slide in a little further than I expected, sparking his prostate again and making him moan. While I was finger fucking him, he reached down and began to coat my cock with the lube. Now it was my turn to moan a little, reminding myself just where it was going next. It took all of my strength to pull away from him and gently remove my fingers so I could position him on his side.

"Sh-h-h. This won't hurt as much, Peter. You can see me later." I hushed his protests and spooned up behind him. My cock was rock hard and already seeking home when I slid one of my legs between his and reached around to grab his cock at the same moment I penetrated through his guardian muscle.

"Oh-h-h." He froze. No matter how prepared you think you are, the reality is still a shock. He was tight. So very, very tight, I had to fight with all my self-control not to come right then.

I was petting his slightly wilted shaft and my forehead was resting against his shoulder while I tried to wait out the initial resistance. It just takes time and this way I could savor the feeling of actually being inside of him.

When he moved back a little, I pushed in another inch and waited. This time, he only took a moment to react and then I was balls deep in him and we both took a deep breath. Ab-so-fucking-lute-ly fantastic. Picture a tight leather glove that just barely fits over your flesh and flexes with every little twitch.

"Wow." His voice is quiet but I can hear the awe behind the exclamation. More importantly, I can feel his cock coming back to life in my hand.

"Double wow." I lick the sweat slick skin under my cheek. "I'm going to move now. You ready?"

"Go for it." He gives a little wriggle that almost destroys me right there and he laughs at my growl.

I'm still moving slowly but the pull out and the thrust back in speeds up while I get a better grip on his cock. My computer has nothing on me at the moment while I handle the complex multi-tasking required to keep us both on the boil without losing it. Changing my angle brings a yelp from beside me and grinning into his back, I proceed to stimulate his prostate into a frenzy.

We're both close now and I forget all my plans to make sure he comes first and just let go. But somebody must be watching over us because I feel a wetness in my hand and the sudden clenching of his inner muscles that send me right over the top. He absorbs my endless stream of heat with a sigh and slumps face down on the bed, trapping my hand under him. But I'm glued to his back with a combination of sweat and heat and absolutely no plans to move until . . . oh . . . next year sometime.

We lay there in perfect contentment until I feel him stir and unbury his head. I've got to be too heavy for him and I can feel myself shrinking inside my safe haven. I move gently in and out, to get him used to the notion. This can be one of the moments when you can hurt your partner and I won't do that. He flinches then relaxes all the way so I slide free with a slight pop of suction. We both moan at the loss and I free him of my weight only to have him twist towards me.

We end up in a tangle of arms and legs, his lips desperately taking mine in a mind-blowing kiss. All the nerve endings I thought had been fried came right back on line and started that damn multi-tasking again. But when I felt the salty wetness on his lips, I pulled away and cradled his head in my hands so I could see his eyes.

"Did I hurt you, Peter?" Even I could hear the note of panic in my voice.

"NO! You could never hurt me. I just felt so connected to you. As if we were one body instead of two." He laughed a little sheepishly and blushed. I love it when he blushes.

"We were one, love. You possessed me completely."

"I possessed you? I thought it was the other way around." He looked puzzled. He's so cute when he doesn't understand something.

"You took me inside of yourself. That means you possessed me. When I take you in, then I get to be the possessor." I said calmly and watched his eyes light up.

"You'd let me?"

"I'm counting on it. But not tonight. I don't think I could get it up again, even for you." My whole body wanted a hot shower and about ten hours of sleep.

"Shower and change the sheets first then we can both rest up." He read my mind again. Must be a Shaolin thing.

"Oh yeah!"


	3. Stakeout Kermit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kermit has a new admirer.

Stakeout Kermit  
*************************

This really sucks.

I know we all have to take our turn on stakeouts but I did one two weeks ago before the snowstorm. My thoughts skate off into la-la land when I remember being apartment bound for three days. With Peter.

"I'm glad you're pleased with this assignment." Captain Simms quirks an eyebrow at me and I wonder what expression I'm wearing. "I expected a protest after the last one. At least this time, you won't be trapped in a van with Briggs. I know his smoking can be obnoxious."

"Whatever." I toss out, hoping for a few more details.

"We've got a room on the fifth floor, right across from Rycard's apartment. 70 feet away max. We're trying to get a bug in place so you'll be in stereo. Eyes and ears both. Your partner will be Andrews out of Vice. A nonsmoker, I believe."

"When do I report?" *Please, not tonight.*

"Right now while he's at the gym. Andrews is over there setting things up. I suggest you take your laptop with you so you can keep in touch. Once you're there, we can't take the chance that he'd catch you coming in or out. Any questions?" She gifted me with a look that said I'd better not have any.

"On my way." I went straight to my office, past Peter's empty chair. There was no way I could leave him a note. Too obvious among this sharp-eyed crew. We were playing it cool among them. As far as I knew, his father and the Ancient were the only ones who knew about us.

I packed up my laptop and loaded my pockets with the last of my candy bars. I slipped the mystery I was reading in the side pocket and hoped we would at least have a light so I could get some reading in. Sketching a salute to Chief Strenlich, I headed for my car and the address the Captain had handed me. Warehouse district. Not far from Caine's actually.

On the off chance that Peter's cell phone was on, I punched in his number. Two rings later, he picked up.

"Peter, its Kermit. Something's come up and I won't be able to make the game tonight. Maybe you have time to find somebody else." I don't trust cell phones. Anybody can listen in.

"Damn. I know you were looking forward to the . . . game."

Oh, yeah. The hot sweaty game that the two of us played.

"Well, their chances don't look too good against the Bulldogs. They've lost both of the last home games."

"Yeah. But that's because we weren't there to cheer them on. You going to be free this weekend?"

"I don't think so. Just a repeat of two weeks ago." I can hear him thinking about what had happened then and knew he'd made the connection when I heard him sigh.

"Well, take care. I hope you've got somebody good to watch your back."

"I hope so too. I don't know him personally. Andrews was the name."

"From Vice?" His voice raised an octave. "You watch your own back. Or better yet, I'll come along and watch it for you."

"I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for years. You've got me curious now. I'll e-mail you later." I'm in range of the address and I don't want someone picking this up. "Take care of yourself. 'Bye."

I park in the back alongside an old beat up Chevy Nova about twenty years old. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that Peter's voice had been jealous. Like he had anything to worry about. I loosened my gun in my holster and made my way inside. It only took me a second to pick the lock to the basement. I prowl through the dismal place, making sure there weren't any surprises lurking.

I like knowing what's behind and beside me. I'm too old to enjoy surprises. As I've said before, there are old mercenaries and bold mercenaries but no old bold mercenaries. I left bold behind years ago. I canvas each floor from end to end, listening in at each door to see which rooms had people and which didn't. The ones with no movement, I use the sniff test on. Nobody lives in a place without the smell giving them away.

Nobody lived above the third floor, which meant we had a layer between them and us. At least we wouldn't have to walk around in our stocking feet. I hate that. I had to pick the lock on the roof door as well and I took a careful tour around, being careful not to show myself to the other building. It was the same height as ours and I pulled out my binoculars to check out the roofs that had a line of sight with ours. Old assassins trick. If I could use it for a base, then they could too.

It looked serene and after brushing out my tracks in the snow that remained, I went back down to check in with my temporary partner. I knocked and waited for him to come to the door.

"Yeah?"

"Captain Simms sent me."

"Kermit?" The door opened and one of the most handsome men I've ever seen beckoned me in with a wide smile. A quick glance told me he was just under six-foot of blond beauty with a body built just right in all the right places. "It's a real pleasure to meet you, Detective. I've been looking forward to working with you for some time now."

"Thanks." I don't talk much usually and his enthusiastic welcome was a little disconcerting. He still hadn't let go of my hand and it had gone long past a normal handshake. I used a little force and he shut the door behind me and moved up close. He didn't seem to have been told about personal space and he was definitely in mine. "Is everything set up?"

"Yeah, we got the bug in and the listening post is right over here. I've got the telescopic lens by this window." His gestures kept invading my space and I moved towards the window just to get away from him. He followed me.

"Is that the only plug-in?" The listening equipment was using both plugs and my first sweep hadn't shown another.

"There's one in this room but I don't think it's working." He'd finally stopped and just followed me with his eyes while I took a turn around the space. At least we had a bathroom, although we'd have to be careful about flushing noises. The cot in the bedroom had the minimum of comfort but at least there were a couple of warm blankets and a pillow. And blackout curtains on the window so we wouldn't have to be so careful with the bathroom light.

If I have to, I can just go without sleep and at the moment I wasn't too sure that I wanted to give Andrews that kind of an advantage over me. I couldn't figure him out. Aside from being absolutely beautiful and smelling subtly something wholesome like vanilla, he was way too eager to be working with me. I have a reputation of being a hard ass and normally there are groans instead of long handshakes when others get assigned to me.

"This is a real honor, Detective Griffin. Sorry about the Kermit earlier. I guess I just got excited. You probably only let your friends use that name." He looked so woebegone that I couldn't help a smile.

"Kermit's fine. I can rig up something for my laptop. Have you got the file on this case?" I figured if I gave him something to do, he'd settle down.

So he sat at the table with the listening equipment and read me the file on the alleged drug dealer living across the street, while I sat on the floor and rewired the outlet to allow more than three items to plug in. I could feel his eyes on me while he spoke of why Vice was involved instead of Substance Abuse. Rycard was also rumored to be running a snuff film operation with young men off the street.

"So, until they can figure a way to get me into his stable of regulars, I'm here to keep an eye on him. That way, he won't know me when it comes time for me to go undercover. I'm so new to the department that very few people know me." He shrugged and ran a slender hand through his long blond hair. The gold hoop in his left ear caught my eye.

"Met a Detective Caine, yet?" I wondered why Peter's reaction had been so immediate and when I looked up, I surprised a blush on the young detective's face.

"Um, yeah. We had a little misunderstanding in the locker room my first day here. He asked me what I was doing in his locker." Andrews looked absolutely miserable. "The Captain had told me the third locker on the left and I got turned around when I went in. Caine's locker is the third one on the right. It wasn't locked or anything but I knew right away that it couldn't be right since there was stuff there. But he'd already seen me. I tried to apologize but he really flew off the handle. I've kind of been avoiding him since."

I kept my chuckle silent with a supreme act of control. Peter can be a little quick on the trigger although he's calmed down a lot since he's been studying with his father. "I wouldn't worry about it. There, that's done." I stood up and brushed down my pants. "We're going to need another chair."

He sprang up as if I'd applied electricity to his ass. And a nice tight ass it was. I shook my head. What the hell was I doing even noticing that? He was babbling something about sitting on the floor and I shushed him when my cell phone rang.

"Yeah?"

"Change of plan. Replacement coming. Put Andrews on." Captain Simms voice held suppressed excitement.

"Here you go." I handed over the cell and watched his face go from wary to excited to disappointed.

"Yes . . . yes . . . okay." He tapped off and handed the phone back, his long fingers brushing against mine.

"They've got a chance to get me noticed by him. Entree to the gym where he works out." The excitement was back but his eyes watched me move to the table with regret. I hadn't been eyed like that in years. Good for the ego even while I was telling myself that he was way too young for me to be cruising.

"Good luck, Andrews. Be careful and watch your back around him. We can't afford to lose any good cops to scum like him." I nodded and tried to sound judicial but a note of worry must have crept in. He was just so damn young.

He heard it and lit up like a Christmas tree, stepping towards me to do I don't know what but a knock at the door stopped him and I moved around him to answer.

"Yo, Kermit, let me in." 

Peter? How the hell had he managed that? I opened the door to a rather grim faced lover who swept in and eyed the place like he expected to see an orgy taking place. Andrews just sighed and picked up his backpack from under the table and nodded to Peter before crossing to where I was standing by the door.

He patted me on the shoulder and sighed again. "It was nice working with you, Kermit. Even for just an hour. Take care. I'll remember what you said."

I kept my mouth shut with an effort, just waving him out of the door and closing it behind him. Turning to greet Peter, I was surprised to see him standing with his arms folded and one-foot tapping nervously on the floorboards. He looked pissed. What the hell alternative universe had I gotten into?

"Just an hour? I knew he was a fast worker but that's Olympic record territory." He was breathing fire and I hadn't a clue why.

"Why did you warn me about him? He just seemed to be an overeager kid to me." There had to be more about the locker incident then Andrews had mentioned.

"I don't supposed he mentioned that I caught him in my locker and when I called him on it, he groped me." Peter's voice was tight.

"Well, at least he has good taste." 

Peter just snorted and looked hard at me from head to toe. "You saying he didn't hit on you like within five minutes of you walking in the door?"

"Of course not. Peter, if you appeal to him, this worn out old body isn't going to do anything for him. Besides, I'm taken." And I cocked my head and waited for him.

He was across the room in two seconds hugging me so tightly I couldn't breathe but that's an over-rated pastime compared to being held by Peter. "Sorry. I guess I just assumed that he'd find you as sexy as I do."

A young lover plays hell with your ego. Mine was about five times larger than it had been just moments ago. I found his mouth with mine and tried to absorb him through his lips. Impossible but fun. We finally broke apart to breathe and I found his sheepish look rather endearing but knew better than to say so.

"Okay, I believe you. Damn it, he should have groped me." I paused and listened to him laugh. "But sorry to say, all he did was shake hands and read me the file while I rewired the outlet so I could plug in my laptop."

"Bad eyesight. That's got to be it. He's probably blind as a bat without his glasses." Peter was joking naturally now and taking a look around our temporary home away from home. I let him go prowling the place and went to the table to turn on the listening equipment. Just because the head honcho wasn't there didn't mean we might not hear something interesting.

I heard the water running and shook my head. Only Peter would be thinking ahead to showers. He returned in time to watch me check out the telescope. High powered but the glass had been treated so it wouldn't reflect. Shiny flashes have ruined more surveillance than I care to think about.

He came up behind me and slipped his arms around my waist. Right then and there, I resigned myself to a permanent hard-on. Professionally speaking, we should never have been assigned together but since no one knew we were in a relationship, I was in for a very hard time.

"I know what you're going to say and I promise to be good." His voice whispered in my ear and it was all I could do to keep hold of the telescope. "Very, very good." I felt my zipper sliding south and his long clever fingers delving into my pants. "Just keep your eyes on the apartment and let me know if anyone comes."

Coming wasn't going to be the problem, I decided and held on for dear life. He warmed me from my neck down and now one of his legs was between mine and between it and his hand, I was about to go stark raving mad. He was tongue washing my neck, including that little spot behind my ear that always made me whimper. I kept my eyes open with sheer force of will.

"Oh look, something's come up." He hummed and I felt his answering bulge between my cheeks through too many layers of cloth. His hands slid my pants and boxers down to fall to the ground. I don't wear mine skintight like he does. The air floated across my groin like a soft caress and he moved so quickly I didn't have time to even realize it before his mouth engulfed me while his hands held my hips tightly.

I was panting now and the view blurred before me while I risked a look down. He was cross legged on the floor at my feet, his jeans open and his lovely cock sticking straight out of the little slit in his briefs while my shaft moved in and out of his mouth like a Popsicle. I went back to watching the apartment because I wouldn't last a minute if I kept watching him.

He made it last a long time; pressing on the nerve at the base of my cock at least twice before I moaned and he grinned and let me come. He always needs me to tell him when I've had enough and that particular little moan is the signal that I can't take much more. It's a fine line between pleasure and pain. 

Peter drank me down and sucked me dry while I held on to the telescope and thanked god for tripods. Sturdy tripods. When I got my breath back, I tugged him up to take my place. He brought my pants up with him and tucked my limp cock in. He was so hard at this point that I could have breathed on him and made him come but I took him deep into my mouth so I could savor him. He drinks a lot of herbal tea and tastes of ambrosia to my taste buds.

I tucked him back into his jeans and carefully zipped him up. He pulled me the rest of the way up and into his arms. Peter is a natural born cuddler and I'd grown used to waking up with him snuggled as close as he could get. It should have been claustrophobic but I'd begun to miss him when we had to be apart. The bed was too damn big without him sprawled across it.

"Damn, we've got company." Peter swore, his eyes back at the telescope lens. 

I crossed over to flip on the recording equipment. If we were very lucky, there'd be a phone call or visitor that would give us what we needed so we could go home. The more of Peter I have, the more I want and the little snack we'd just shared had only whetted my appetite.

*************

Three days later, I was about ready to go over to Rycard's apartment and plant some evidence on him. The guy was so squeaky clean it was nauseating. Also, suspicious. Nobody was that good. I'd gotten a modem connection from a satellite feed on the roof and I decided to take a little walk through the web into his finances. Nothing legal, mind you, nothing that would stand up in court but even a hint could give us something to begin unraveling his operation. So far, all I'd found was some suspicious income tax deductions and I'd already routed them to a friend in the IRS.

Andrews had visited the apartment the night before and his wide-eyed ingenue act had gone over really well. Especially the blush when Rycard had made a subtle pass at him. The kid was a natural at the innocent look. His little gasp at Rycard's kiss had made me grin while Peter just shook his head in disgust. My lover was still holding a grudge.

We'd been good too, except for a kiss or three. Too much chance to get caught with our pants down. Literally. So we were feeling just a little desperate when the Captain called and told me Rycard had just left for New York with Andrews for a little shopping spree and we were off the hook. Peter was at the telescope when I took the call and I contemplated his slightly bent over position with his ass pushed towards me and absolutely no underwear line visible.

Moving quietly, I hung up on the Captain and moved up behind my unaware lover. "So, Peter. Guess what?" My hands went around his waist and began to stroke the soft denim over his crotch. The swelling was immediate and I fondled him slowly while pressing up against the curves of his ass.

"Ker-r-r-mit. That's not funny." He panted slightly. The three days had been harder on him because of his youthful energy. But I wasn't far behind.

"You've got that right." I unbuttoned his metal fastener and inched the zipper down very slowly while I moved my hips back and forth over his backside. He was trembling now and when he'd sprung free with a whimper, I pushed his jeans down over his hips and all the way down past his knees. From this position, I could see the heavy sacs between his legs and the thick cock jutting forward in the pale afternoon light.

"I love it when you go commando on me."

My hands moved up his legs to cup and spread his cheeks. I blew across his puckered opening and felt him shake. Moving in for an intimate kiss, I heard him moan my name while my tongue tasted him. Richly flavored as he is everywhere else, this musk was stronger and just more 'Peter' than the rest of him. I stabbed the tight muscle with my rolled up tongue and felt him shake harder. 

We hadn't done this before and I really hoped I wasn't grossing him out. I let go with one hand so I could free myself from my suddenly too tight pants. My name was being hoarsely whispered in a chanted mantra of desperate feeling and when he felt my shaft between his cheeks, he pushed back immediately, changing the chant to 'now'.

He was leaking precum and I used that to loosen him up a little more. I didn't want to take him dry and I was wondering why I didn't just carry lube around in my pocket when he turned in my arms and went to his knees to mouth me into wet steel. A few moments of torture and I pulled him back up, kissing him senseless before turning him back around.

"Assume the position, kid. I never realized how erotic this telescope is."

"Fuck the telescope, Kermit." Peter groaned.

"Nope. Rather fuck you." And I slid into his tight hot depths in one long push. I rested against his back, my hands sliding over his hips to grasp his cock and give it an encouraging rub. He relaxed around me and I brought my hands back to his hips so I could begin the slow thrusting that would bring us both release. We've only done this twice before and I have to say that third time was definitely the charm.

The friction was greater because of the absence of lube but the angle was perfect for hitting his prostate and he was panting in between his moans. One of his hands came down to give his cock some relief and I sped up my thrusts until I was almost battering him. My whole world shrank to a very small place and he was all I could feel, pulsing around me like a living glove.

I swear I could feel his heartbeat through my cock and when I exploded, that beat was all that kept me conscious and on my feet. Slowly, I came back to full awareness of the room and Peter. I could smell him so I knew he'd come too. I was finally beginning to shrink a bit and I very slowly rocked back and forth a bit.

"Ow!" His murmur was uncomfortable but not pain stricken. Still, I stopped moving and waited. Stroking the soft skin at his waist, I tried again and managed a bit more before the tension stopped me.

"Peter, relax for me. I don't want to hurt you now. Pretend that I'm not there and you want me to come in. Relax those muscles for me." I whispered into his ear and licked the sweat from his neck. It's as salty sweet as the rest of him.

He laughed then moaned when I slipped all the way out. I bent to take a look. Reddened but not too bad. No blood for which I was profoundly grateful. I kissed him gently and tasted myself on his sweat slick skin. He shivered and I pulled up his jeans part way. He straightened with a hiss and tucked himself back in before zipping up. I'd already tidied myself away before he turned to look at me.

He was blushing and I wondered why for a moment before he leaned over and kissed me. I pulled him into my arms and soaked in the lovely warm heat of him while his tongue scoured my mouth of every last drop of saliva. 

"Kermit? Why?" He rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes.

"There is no part of you that I don't find sexy, Peter. I never felt the urge to do that to another man before but with you,” I shrugged and kissed his chin, "it was the most natural thing in the world."

"I love you. Was that Captain Simms letting us off the hook?" He smiled shyly and I could see him file away my answer into the back of this mind for study later. "Because if it was, I want to go home and take you to bed for about eight hours of sleep and cuddling."

"Yes, it was the Captain and yes we can pack up and go home."

"Thank God. Do we leave the stuff or take it back?" He groaned.

"Leave it. Rycard will be back but then Vice gets the job of watching him."

Peter grabbed his pack and I unplugged my laptop and stowed it away. I grabbed the sack of trash to take with us while Peter gathered our stuff from the bathroom. I hurriedly cleaned the tripod and wall of Peter's offering and cracked the window to let the cold fresh air in. By the time Vice took over, the smell of our lovemaking would be gone. Locking the door behind us, we left our assignment behind.

Peter unlocked his car and looked over at me. "My place or yours?"

"Do you have any food in?"

"Uh, no. Haven't had a chance to shop lately."

"My place. I'd set in supplies for the weekend we missed."

A slow smile crossed his face. "Oh, I don't know. I enjoyed this weekend. Even if I do have to sit on a cushion for a couple of days."

I didn't even have to stop and think about it. "This time, you can take me."

His eyes lit up and he gulped once. "I'll race you home."

I just laughed at him and followed him in my car. What a nice word that was. Home. And home was wherever he was. My body tingled in anticipation. Especially when I had him deep inside of me where no one had been in twenty-five years.

Oh yeah!


	4. Undercover Kermit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kermit gets an assignment at a local hair salon. Who knew he was such a stylist?

Undercover Kermit  
************************

Great Goddess! Who the hell thinks up these assignments? Just because I know how to cut hair, and I fully intend to kill the person who put that in my file, why does that mean that *I'm* the one who has to go undercover in the hair salon? Nobody better make one crack, and I sweep the Captain's office with an evil eye, or I won't be responsible for my actions.

"You report tomorrow morning to the . . . Pink Poodle." Captain Simms was obviously praying going by the intent look on her face. "Yes. Well, good luck, Kermit. The sooner you smoke out the go-between, the sooner we can wrap this up. Dismissed."

I left with Chief Strenlich and Mary Margaret, still fuming. I had plans for tonight and tomorrow that did not include dressing up as a gay hairdresser and frosting my hair green. I suddenly had a thought that brought me up short and sent me back to the Captain. Tapping on her door, I stuck my head in at her 'enter'.

"Mary Margaret won't cut it if I'm supposed to be gay. Sisters don't dish the dirt the way lovers do. We're going to need a lover to pick me up from work and sit and talk to the rest of the staff. So, choose somebody male and good looking. I have my standards." I leaned against the door frame and watched her work it out.

"Agreed. Either Kincaid or Caine. Any preference?"

Oh yeah! How to phrase it delicately? I pretended to think about it. "Peter's younger. He'd be more of a trophy lover for my aging queen persona."

She barely stopped her grin from breaking out, but by taking a deep breath, she quelled it. "All right. But you get to tell him."

I gave her my best evil grin. "I look forward to it."

Shutting her door behind me, I sauntered through the squad room and made for my office. "Oh, Detective Caine, if I could see you in my office for a moment?"

He looked up. "Sure, Kermit." Getting up and following me in. 

I left the door open and gave him a quick sign to follow my lead. He nodded slightly and perched on my desk while I sat back in comfort waiting for a couple of the detectives to get into position.

"So, Peter, ready for an undercover assignment?" I eyed him and watched his nervous glance at the open door. "I need back up while I go in as a hairdresser. You get to be my . . . boyfriend."

"What?" He did the indignant act perfectly, jumping off the desk and standing there with his hands on his hips. *Just thrust those hips at me a little harder, lover.* "No way." He wailed while his eyes shone at me with delight. "I had a date tonight." His whine was perfect.

"Tonight's no problem but you'll need to drop me off at the . . . Pink Poodle tomorrow morning. And pick me up after work so you can meet my coworkers." I played evil really well, if I do say so myself. "And you'll need to be affectionate with your . . . hunny-bunny."

"Oh . . . my . . . god." He was about to break something while he struggled with his laughter. Luckily, the Chief who'd appeared behind his shoulder thought it was anger and he laid a fatherly hand on Peter's shoulder.

"You're the best man for the job, Peter. You're completely unknown in that part of town and you've got a sympathetic air that gets people to talk to you. You'll do just fine." And he led him out of my office while I logged on to find out what I could about the ownership of the Pink Poodle. Where the hell do they get these names?

*****

Peter was already at my place when I unlocked the door and walked right into his arms. I heard the door shut behind me but my full attention was on the lips that were trying to steal my breath away. His tongue mated with mine for long moments while we held each other closer and closer.

"Well, how was that for greeting my . . . hunny-bunny?" Peter was breathing heavily against my throat.

"Practice makes perfect, sweetheart. We'll go over it a couple of more times and see how it goes." I was seriously thinking of tripping him to the floor and having my way with him but sanity prevailed. Well, that and the wonderful smell coming from the kitchen. "What are we having for dinner?"

"Garlic chicken, my recipe and fig baklava for desert from Giorgio's." He waggled his eyebrows at me and I pulled him close and just shared his breath for a moment. It's moments like these when I wonder why I'm so lucky.

"I'm a lucky man, Kermit. Playing your jealous lover will be a snap." Peter reads my mind sometimes with ease.

"Jealous?" I led him into the kitchen to find a wine to go with our meal.

"Of course. I intend to stick to you like glue. Anybody making a move on you gets flattened." He was so matter of fact that I hesitated for a moment.

"Because I need protection?"

"Hell, no. Because I see red every time somebody touches you and I have to erase their touch as soon as possible."

"I see." And I did, kind of. He is still so young that I sometimes forget that. I pulled a bottle of Chardonnay from the wine rack. "I guess I shouldn't tell you then that the Chief patted me on the shoulder this afternoon after you left."

He spooned behind me and unbuttoned my shirt slowly while I opened the wine. Tugging the shirt off one shoulder, he kissed tiny little nips over the exposed flesh while I shivered and tried to hold onto the bottle with suddenly nerveless fingers. 

"There. I feel better, how about you?" He spoke in my ear while tonguing my earlobe.

"Oh yeah. Except . . . it was the other shoulder." 

He chuckled and nipped his way over the back of my neck to the hot spot between my shoulder and neck. I felt the shiver up and down my spine. When he rubbed his hands over my nipples, I shuddered once and leaned into him with a death grip on the wine.

"Dinner first, lover. You're going to need your strength." His purr rumbled through my nerve endings and he stepped away slowly until just his hands held my waist lightly.

"Fine." I turned and handed him the bottle, distracting him for a moment while I flicked open the top button of his jeans. He jerked and I slid his zipper down far enough to slide a hand in and over his cock. "Then I want this," squeezing gently, "so far inside of me . . . moving so hard . . . that I'll have to work standing up tomorrow."

A tiny whimper was all Peter could manage while his eyes darkened to deep navy blue. Satisfied, I turned him loose and sent him in for the wineglasses while I dished up the savory chicken. Dinner was quiet with a little conversation about the job. Afterwards, we loaded the dishwasher and headed for the shower.

He gave me a moment alone so I could insert an enema and clean my self out for him. I know we've skipped it a couple of times but you're just asking for trouble or an infection if you don't take the time to do it right. He deserved the best I could give him. One of these days, I hoped he'd be comfortable enough to let me give him one. Done right, it can be a rather exciting experience. 

Bathing Peter is a sensuous experience that is only exceeded by making love with him. He's a feast for the eyes when he's wet and he tastes incredible. I took the edge off with my tongue while he slumped against the tiles and moaned. He had plenty left for pleasuring me and I mouthed him back to a semi-hard state.

"Kermit. It's starting to cool off. Let's go to bed." His rather plaintive request accompanied his lifting me to my feet. We dried off and he followed me to bed. He'd turned on the electric blanket before joining me in the bathroom and set out new oil in the hot pot over the votive candle so everything was toasty warm.

He rolled me over with a pillow under my stomach and proceeded to give me a massage that soon had me whimpering. Until Peter, I'd never been totally focused upon. Every thought, touch and movement was focused on my body . . . my reaction . . . my need. I was completely relaxed before his touch changed to a caress and the tingle returned to my spine.

His hands are registered lethal weapons but in our bed, they only bring pleasure. Every inch of my back and legs was massaged but when he feathered long strokes across my buttocks, I felt the focus warm. His fingers pressed between my cleft and unerringly found my center. Two oily fingers penetrated me and stopped while his other hand rolled my balls between them.

He'd only taken me once before and he was still unsure that I wanted him inside of me. It had been painful at first. I've always heard that after seven years, you become a virgin again. Well, it had been a lot longer than that for me and it all felt brand new when he came inside of me. But I'd meant what I'd said when I took his virginity. He possessed me when I was inside him and the feeling of possessing him was equally indescribable.

Knowing that he was safe inside me. Feeling his bulk forge deeper and deeper until he could go no further. That was a gift that I wanted more than just once. So now, I moaned and raised my hips to encourage him and felt him loosen my protective muscle with long strokes that brushed my prostate and made me groan even louder. Soon, I was taking three fingers and asking for more. I'd come up onto all fours and was rocking back and forth, pleading with him.

Then, the fingers were gone and all his lovely thick heat was lodged inside the ring of muscle. He was shaking, just a little, while I adjusted to his size and then I moved back and sank a little more of him inside me. Soon he was rocking in and out, each move coming deeper and deeper until I felt his balls flush against my cheeks. He paused again and we both savored the exquisite feeling of being one body.

But soon he had to move and we quickly established a hard, driving rhythm that burned along my neural pathways while I flushed with the heat of him. When he connected with the small gland that brings so much pleasure, I started tingling. Then shivering. Then came a full-fledged forest fire that flashed through my body like a firestorm, drawing my balls taut and hardening my cock to steel.

Release was never-ending while I pulsed out my seed into his waiting hand in long hot spurts. I collapsed onto the pillow and felt the shooting stars behind my eyelids begin to slow. He was still buried within me and I slowly realized that he hadn't come yet.

"Peter?" I had almost no voice left after my constant pleading and moaning.

"Remember, Kermit? So hard and so deep that you can still feel me tomorrow." He covered me completely and his husky voice sent new ripples down my spine. Somehow, he'd survived my orgasm intact and when he moved this time, I was already so sensitive that I yelped. "Too much? I don't want to hurt you."

I had to stop and think about it. This was new territory for me and I was already planning a long talk with Caine about just how much control this Shaolin training had taught Peter. But I had a sudden conviction that it was going to be good. Very, very good. So, I stopped thinking and answered him.

"Slow. Take it slow and make me feel it again." I turned my head so he could reach my lips and we kissed awkwardly. "I've got an idea. Pull out and let me turn over."

"The books say that might hurt." But he was already moving gingerly out of me, the wet moist 'pop' as he pulled free filling the air with anticipation.

"Not if we do it right." I replied and rolled over with sigh of relief. My neck really objects to lying on my stomach. Too awkward to stay in that position long. This time I felt his hands on my stomach and he pulled me down to meet him. The pillow was still under my lower back but now my thighs were over his, my legs wrapping around his waist while he nudged my center with his cock and slid right back in.

He paused while I adjusted to the new position, his lips scattering kisses over my face. This way, I could touch him and I ran my hands up his arms to his shoulders. We kissed for long sweet moments before he began to move again. This time, the rhythm was slower and deeper with the warmth; I'd felt before, diffusing throughout my body. The tingles were back but a little subdued for me since I'd already come once.

But Peter was sweating now and beginning to tremble and I knew it wouldn't be long before he would have to release that iron control and give himself to me. He flushes right before he comes and I was watching for it, waiting for the bloom to tell me when to squeeze my inner muscles around him.

There. I squeezed a yell out of him and he thrust deep and froze. I felt the hot liquid begin to fill me and wished I could keep him inside of me forever. He was jerking with each release and I managed my contractions right along with his until I'd wrung him dry. I was ready for his collapse onto my chest and I held him to me with the last of my strength while he breathed into my throat.

We lay there, basking in each other's warmth until he slipped free naturally and he moved to his side, bringing me up with him. Our silence was shared, each enjoying the other's presence with a little touch here, a lick there. Without even thinking about it, he pulled up the covers a little higher and we cuddled ourselves to sleep.

*****

He made a big production of walking me to the door of the upscale salon and stepping inside to give everyone there a gimlet look before kissing me goodbye with relish and leaving me quivering at the front desk.

"Oh, my dear. Tell me he's got a brother or I may just have to slit my wrists now." The tall blond behind the counter blew Peter a kiss when he turned to wave goodbye. "You must be Kevin. The new boy."

"Kermit. And no, he doesn't have a brother." I took a deep breath and prepared to investigate this garish den of iniquity right down to the faux marble pink floor tiles. Starting with the blonde Adonis in front of me.

It was a pretty quiet day really; I only had three walk-ins to shampoo, cut and blow dry. I talked one of them into a little color and watched him walk away with the same green streak I'd highlighted myself with this morning. It looked better on him than it did me. I listened to my coworkers dish the dirt on everything from the impeachment hearings to who was screwing who. Not a great leap, of course.

I made up a sad story about my aunt dying and leaving me a small annuity to live on so I could pursue my career as a hair stylist without having to worry about my next meal. I fended off questions about Peter with a sigh and a fond look that told them in a nutshell that he was probably a gigolo, out to take me for my legacy. Nothing attracts a crook like another crook.

There were currently four other stylists along with a manager I never saw and Paul, the receptionist. I had lunch with Adrian, a slight young man with a sad smile and what appeared to be a cocaine habit. The glitter in the eyes gives them away every time. He chatted nonstop about the shop and his love life while I ate a salad for my waistline and dreamed of a thick juicy steak.

The afternoon went by slowly while I leafed through a magazine of new styles and tried to picture Peter in some of them. A customer came in and requested me because of my green hair. He thought I'd bring him good luck and he needed a quick styling for his trip to Las Vegas. So, I gave him a style that he could run his fingers through while he was losing. What idiot goes to a place where all they do is take your money?

When I unveiled him, I noticed Peter leaning against the front counter, talking to Paul animatedly. Their heads were close together and the sound of their laughter gave me a severe twinge in the heart. Two beautiful young men enjoying themselves, what could be better than that? I folded the cape slowly, glad for my green sunglasses. They'd hide the jealousy I couldn't help but feel.

*Stupid. Peter loves you . . . for now.* I couldn't get away from the negative thoughts even inside my own head. Somewhere a clock was ticking down the moments of this love affair and I suddenly felt like Captain Hook listening for the crocodile. *Enjoy him while he's here. You'll be a long time without him.*

Then he was standing in front of me and that long fingered hand was lifting my chin and his eyes were glowing down into mine. "I missed you every minute of every hour. Say you'll be done soon. Please?"

Every kiss is different and all of his are special. This was a soft one with a hint of spicy tongue and his hand gentle against my throat. I melted as I always do and the world narrowed to his mouth and hands. Nothing else existed until he pulled away and I heard the clapping and muted cheers.

While I was catching my breath, Peter was bowing and acknowledging the applause from the two customers and staff. Paul was laughing at me and calling out his approval.

"Very nice, even if he doesn't have a brother. We're slow right now, Kermit. I don't think the boys would mind if you took early off tonight if you'll work late tomorrow." He fluttered his eyelashes at Peter who leered at him with one hand possessively on my shoulder. "But you have to promise to give us all the details in the morning, darling."

I smiled as smugly as I knew how and finished tidying up the station I'd been assigned. "No details for you, you naughty boy. You're much too young to know about these kinds of things. Adrian, thanks for lunch. I'll see everyone tomorrow."

Peter and I swept out in grand style and he opened the door for me before heading around to the driver's side. We drove off in silence and I relaxed for the first time that day. Playing a part can be exhausting, especially when you play it completely. His hand moved across the seat and took mine into a warm clasp without his eyes ever leaving the road.

I turned my head to watch him drive. His profile is so pure it would make a sculptor reach for a block of marble. But stone could never do justice to the warmth of his flesh and the blush of his cheek.

"I bought steak for dinner. And a bottle of that Lambrusco you like. How was work?"

"Is reading minds part of the Shaolin training?" I asked while my thumb stroked the warm skin of his hand. 

"Not normally but for some reason, I kept getting this craving for red meat all afternoon. It's marinating as we speak."

"Thank you, Peter. I think Adrian is a crack user but his gossip was pretty normal for a hair dresser. I got to dye somebody else green this morning. Maybe I'll start a trend. I've always thought you'd look good in green."

"Am I going to have to sleep with one eye open or risk waking up with a new look?" He stopped for a stoplight and glanced over at me with a grin. "If I need some color, I prefer it internally. I keep hoping some of you will rub off in me."

I'm suddenly not tired at all. Amazing what a little flirting and a needy look will do for middle aged muscles. "Drive faster. I know what I want for dinner. The steak can be desert."

"Oh yeah!" He sped off down the road and I plotted how to get him into bed within five minutes of our hitting the front door. I planned on making him scream. If I was lucky, he'd return the favor.

And tomorrow, I'd see if I couldn't talk him into a little green.


	5. Undercover Kermit, Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kermit just needs to get away for a bit.

Undercover Kermit, Interlude  
****************************

I'd been styling hair for two weeks now and the fun was gone. My instincts told me that the go-between was the receptionist, Paul but he was good and so far I'd not found a physical link. I was tired and beginning to fray at the edges. Normally, I'm a very private person and the constant chatter and noise was starting to get to me.

Peter was the one bright spot in the whole situation. He has a natural serenity that flows into me whenever he touches me. And luckily, he touched me a lot in his role as my lover. I asked him how much stick he was picking up at the precinct and he just widened his eyes and shrugged. A reaction worthy of me.

Today was my day off and while part of me just wanted to hole up and hibernate, something inside said I needed to get out and smell the roses. A knock at the door stirred me from where I'd been standing in front of the window.

"Peter. Why aren't you at work?" I pulled him inside and into my arms. I'd slept alone last night and it seemed like days since I'd last touched him.

"I traded so today is my day off, too. And I've got a surprise for you. Do you trust me?" He stroked my cheek and pressed a gentle kiss at the corner of my mouth.

"Yes." He always drew the truth right out of me. 

Rewarding me with a more passionate kiss, he finally set me away from him and chuckled. "Change clothes. Jeans and flannel."

Flannel? I redressed while a hundred scenarios ran through my head. He steered me out the door and down to his car. With some jazz on his cassette player, we headed out of the city. I watched the buildings give way to farms and then to trees and wilderness. After an hour, we were bumping down a dirt road into close growing trees and shrubs still sprinkled with snow.

Suddenly, we were in a clearing with a small log cabin right ahead of us. Peter got the car turned around and headed back towards the main road before he turned it off and the silence settled over us like a new layer of snow.

"This was one of Grandfather's hideaways. Pop brought me here a couple of times when I was healing from the Sing Wah. You've been getting tighter and tighter all week. I thought maybe you could unwind here." He held my hand and looked a little diffidently at me.

For a moment, I couldn't answer him. He takes such tender care of me and I'm not used to that. I brought his hand to my lips and kissed the palm. "I think you were inspired, Peter. It sounds just like what the doctor ordered. Let's walk for a while."

His eyes lit up and we began a trek through the woods. There was a small lake nearby and we tramped along the shoreline for quite a while. It hadn't been so cold that the lake was entirely frozen. Instead ice flows drifted here and there like miniature icebergs looking for a Titanic. We startled two deer who'd come down to the water's edge to drink and I snuggled close to Peter with my arms around his waist while we froze still and watched them continue on with their business.

They made a beautiful contrast between the stark black and white landscape with their soft brown fur and long legs moving slowly over the ground. When they disappeared through the undergrowth, I let out a breath of white vapor and grinned up at Peter.

"Thanks. I needed this."

"You're welcome. I did too. I forget sometimes that there's more to the world than a city and people. It's good to get away and just listen to the silence." He hugged me tighter and we stood there for long moments just absorbing the peace.

"You know, I'm getting hungry. I don't suppose you brought a picnic lunch with you?" I checked the position of the sun that was trying to peak through the clouds and discovered it was almost noon.

"Of course, I did. Let's head back and open the cabin. We've got plenty of wood so we can be comfortable while we eat." He laughed and led me back in what seemed to me a totally different direction but within twenty minutes we were at the cabin.

He unlocked the place while I started unloading the trunk of the car. Two baskets of food and drink and a giant sleeping bag made for two filled the trunk. I like the way he thinks. We crossed paths while he headed for the covered woodpile. I looked around curiously, setting the baskets on the table and taking a good look at the single room.

The wood stove was already burning merrily and the iron teapot that sat on top was making faint sounds that said we'd be having tea shortly. There was no fireplace, just the stove and the table with four chairs to one side. A double glazed modern window looked out over the back of the cabin and I was drawn to the peaceful scene. Two rocking chairs sat on either side and I could just picture Caine and the Ancient sitting and rocking while watching the wildlife pass by.

A double wide rope bed sat across the room, a futon rolled up on the frame and a beautiful iron bound trunk at the foot. Everything was immaculate and search as I might, it seemed to be completely watertight. Peter came back in while I was watching a squirrel scamper up a tree, with an armload of wood. He dumped it in the wood box by the stove and joined me.

He smelled of wood and smoke and fresh air. I breathed him in deeply and buried my face in his flannel shirt. The last of the tension drained away and I floated safely in his arms. His hands made me real again. The real me, the still-faintly-surprised man loved by him, not the persona I'd been playing for the last two weeks. He just held me and I let his love soak into me with each stroke of his hands.

"I *really* needed this. Thanks, Peter." My words were muffled against his chest but I knew he'd hear me.

"So did I, Kermit. I like you just as you are, love. No artifice or barriers to keep the world out." His cheek settled on my hair and it felt like he was anchoring me with his body. We held each other for a long moment and then the teakettle whistled and we moved apart with a chuckle.

I went back out to get the sleeping bag and close the trunk lid. When I got back in, he'd started unpacking the first basket that included a teapot and cups. I unrolled the futon first then unfurled the sleeping bag over it so the warmer air in the room could bring it up to temp. When I turned back, Peter was setting the table with blue and white pottery that I'd last seen at a street fair last summer.

He answered my unspoken question with a slight flush. "You really liked them but passed them up for some reason so I went back and got them. I thought maybe I'd give the set to you for Christmas but . . . I came up with something better."

His smile could light the city, I decided. Crossing to the table, I traced the spiral pattern around the rim and let my eyes speak for me. We'd exchanged a lot of love since Christmas but the dishes told me that he'd felt this way for longer than I'd dreamed possible. "They fit the cabin somehow. Simple and plain, kind of like me."

"Never, Kermit. You're complex and a maze that I'm determined to find the heart of." For some reason we were whispering in the quiet.

I laid my hand on his chest, feeling the reassuring heartbeat. "You already have the heart of my maze inside of you. All the paths lead right back here, to what I feel for you."

"I love you, Kermit." The simple statement never fails to move me to tears. Such an impossible dream to come true. We kissed slowly, tasting each other anew.

The fire popped in the stove and we drew apart to finish laying out the meal. Finger foods mostly, vegetables and chopped up chicken already cooked. A bowl of dressing for dipping the greens in and we were ready to eat. I recognized the French loaf from Giorgio's and the tea was the herbal blend Caine had given me when I'd been poisoned.

We ate slowly, speaking of this and that between bites. Memories from Peter of earlier trips to the cabin, things his father had told him, a childhood memory of mine about a canoe ride on another lake that I haven't thought of in years, just simple things to share with each other. The need to hold him was growing stronger and I saw a matching need in his eyes. 

Finishing the tea, I watched him add wood to the stove before slowly undressing before me. I almost forgot to breathe while he unveiled himself to me. A creamy shoulder emerged from the red plaid flannel shirt then his broad chest with it's faint scattering of curly hair guarding the dusky pink nipples. The hair arrowed down to his jeans and I found myself unbuckling his leather belt and popping the top button open. 

His hands were now gently slipping my shirt buttons open and the feel of his callused fingers rubbing against my skin heated my arousal faster than I'd thought it would. I was pushing his jeans down, taking his briefs with them and allowing his shaft to bob free. I was on my knees now, giving him a lick and a promise before slipping off his shoes. He steadied himself with a hand on my shoulder while I freed him of the rest of his clothes.

Then he was pulling me back up so he could return the favor. My sneakers came off first, then my jeans and boxers hit the wide wood planks of the cabin floor. We were moving across the cabin in a simple dance of desire that reminded me of something I'd always wanted to do with him. Impossible in public but perhaps, I could talk him into a private dance to some golden oldies at my place sometime in the future.

We stopped to unzip the side of the bag and Peter crawled in first while I watched his ass with the fascination usually reserved for works of art. But then, to my eyes, he was. He looked over his shoulder at me and wriggled ever so slightly with that impish look on his face, challenging me to stop looking and start doing.

I walked back to the table and the second basket where I was pretty sure I'd seen what I'd need. Yep, he'd come prepared with a new tube of lubricant for us. I also grabbed a towel for clean up later since I knew how hard it was to get semen out of a sleeping bag. When I turned back to him, he'd pushed back the top of the bag and was shamelessly stroking himself with lazy passion, licking his fingers at every other stroke then gliding them up and down his hardening cock.

Without even touching myself, I was rock hard already. His display and my imagination were combining to drive me out of my mind. Coming back to the bed, I laid the cold tube of lube on his stomach, ignoring his protests and moved his hands away from *my* toy.

"Mine." I growled and sucked him deep. He was leaking just a little and I savored the salty taste of him. Ambrosia. Nectar of the gods.

He was squirming a little and trying not to thrust up, his hands carding through my hair and rubbing my ear lobes with teasing touches that hardened me further. I knelt between his legs and used my own hands to bend them up to his chest, spreading his cheeks wide and opening him to my lustful gaze. He blushed at the feeling and I slowly mouthed up his shaft and let it go gently with a gust of hot air before sliding down to roll his balls gently in my mouth.

Panting now, his hands pulled his knees up closer to his chest but farther apart, presenting himself to me with wanton fervor. I rewarded him with a rough tongue that washed his perineum and slowly rimmed him with stabbing strokes that jolted through him with ever increasing tremors. He was moaning now and I reached for the lube, popping open the top and squirting a generous amount onto my fingers.

First one finger to get him used to the invasion, then a second to begin the ritual stretching and finally a third to fill and spark his gland to opening wider for my bulk. I'm not as long as he is but I'm much thicker and I knew the initial entry was always a shock for him. So this time, I slicked myself well and then grabbed his cock with my lubricated hand before sliding the head past his guardian muscle.

He groaned and shuddered but I waited until I felt the muscles relax around me enough so I could slide a little further in. Nothing had ever felt this good in the whole of my misspent life. A little more and then I was sliding home; my balls flat against his cheeks and his cock a rod of steel in my hand.

We rested there and I moved his legs over my shoulders so he could relax his arms. This was a position that could become threatening real fast so I backed off a bit and let him get used to it. When he clenched around me and pulled me down into a soft kiss, I knew he was okay and it was time for me to move.

I flexed within him and watched his eyes widen when I nudged his prostate, sending little shudders of pleasure through him. His stomach muscles rippled under my fingers when I tickled him gently and he began to move restlessly beneath me. I withdrew until just the head of my cock was still inside before I thrust back in. After a few such volleys, he began to sweat and I licked the sheen from around his nipples while he moaned louder.

"Kermit." He panted and almost wailed my name when I spread his legs further and sank deep. It felt like I was nudging his heart and the way he was twisting beneath me told me it was time to give us both release. 

He was the most limber lover I'd ever had and I suddenly realized that I was having fun for the first time in a very long time. I thrust over and over against his prostate and watched him flush and shake in ecstasy. My breathing was growing short and my own haze was growing. As he froze and came, he pulled me down to his lips and took me with him.

His inner muscles milked me dry and we shared panting breaths for long moments. I felt myself begin to soften but his channel held me fast within his hot depths. "Peter, aren't your legs beginning to cramp?"

"Un-uh. Doesn't matter. Don't want to let you go." He moaned and held me tighter. So, pushing his legs lower, I laid my head on his breast and just listened to his heartbeat begin to slow. It was hypnotic and I think I dozed for a few moments until I felt myself slip free and I reached for the towel to catch the trickles leaking from him.

He muttered something I didn't catch when I wiped him dry and tucked the towel under him. He shivered again when I licked his stomach clean of his seed and his hands brought me up and held me in place over him. I pulled the sleeping bag over us and settled in for a nap.

******

We woke up two hours later and watched the light begin to dim in the late afternoon. He cradled me with his lean body and I never had such a comfortable bed. His hands touched me gently with short strokes in unexpected places and I found myself licking all the available flesh within reach.

"I wish . . .” His voice trailed off, replaced with a sigh.

"It would be nice if we could be public about us, wouldn't it?" I finished his thought.

"I thought I was the mind reader?" He chuckled.

"It's rubbing off on me. *You're* rubbing off on me. Thank goodness." I raised up a little and watched him.

He smiled and raised his hand to touch my cheek. "I like that idea. Are you really okay with us? No regrets?"

"All my regrets are in the past, Peter. You are the miracle in my life. The only things I might regret are the fifteen years between us." I turned my head slightly so I could kiss his fingers.

"Oh, I don't know. I kind of see those years as you getting ready for me. Like those fine wines you keep introducing me to. Without their years of aging, they wouldn't taste as good. And you taste very good." He grinned at me and I shook my head.

I am never going to win a debate with him but then . . . did I really want to? "You win. I can promise you as many years as you want."

Suddenly I was flat on my back and he covered me completely. His eyes were intent. "I want them all. Every . . . single . . . one."

Tears seeped in and I had to blink rapidly. Forever wasn't something I'd ever expected and it felt a little scary. But, gods, did I want it. Clearing my throat, I opened my eyes and met his gaze. "Okay."

His grin started small and grew until he was laughing hysterically in my arms. It was infectious and soon we were both weak with laughter and sprawled within the confines of the sleeping bag. He noticed the darkening shadows and sighed.

"We need to clean up and get back to the city." He pushed back the bag and stood up by the bed, holding out a hand for me and hauling me out of the warm cover into the chilly room.

We hurriedly dressed then I rolled up the bag and took it out to the trunk, coming back to load up the baskets with everything we'd brought with us, including the crumbs. There was water in a bottle and I washed down the table to be sure I wasn't leaving behind anything that might attract vermin. Peter was raking out the glowing embers into the cast iron bucket. I carried out the baskets to the car and turned to see him dump snow onto the hot coals by the front steps.

Steam rose with a hiss and slowly died down. A little more snow and another hiss then nothing. He upended the bucket and used his foot to spread them all out. "Hey, Kermit, grab the sand from the trunk."

Approvingly, I pulled the covered five-gallon container from the side of the trunk. You can't be too careful with fire in a forest. I can't stand careless campers who don't take the time to secure their campfires. I poured the sand over the dying coals while Peter went back in to check one more time. When he came out, he shut and locked the door behind him then put the key under the top step mat.

I cast him a questioning look and he shrugged. "Pop doesn't want to make it too difficult for someone to be able to take shelter if they need to. Hasn't been a problem so far."

Shaking my head, I smiled and got in the car. "Only your father."

He just smiled and got in the driver’s seat. "Kermit." He started the car but didn't put it into gear. "You're the first person I ever brought up here. Would you . . . come again?"

I leaned over and kissed him softly. "Anytime, love. Maybe when we finish this assignment, we can celebrate up here for the whole weekend."

He brightened and started the drive out. "Oh yeah!"


	6. Undercover Kermit, Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all goes according to plan.

Undercover Kermit, the Finale  
*****************************

Oh, this was satisfying.

I watched a uniform take the manager away in handcuffs and tried to keep the smile off my face. Who'd have thought that quiet man would be the go-between? Once I got past my jealousy about Paul, I'd begun to notice little things about the office where the manager did the books. Hacking into his computer was a snap and the evidence was just lying there waiting to be picked up.

The others were huddled in the waiting room, still in shock over the unexpected fight. I had four weeks of frustration to take out on the perp and I'd been glad when he pulled out his gun. Very satisfying indeed. A screech outside brought my eyes around to see Peter slam out of the car and stride towards the building. His eyes searched for me frantically and only when he saw me rubbing my hand did he relax.

"So, what you're saying is that we've been working for a Mafia wanna-be for the last two years?" Paul shook his head and combed his hair with his fingers distractedly.

"Oh yeah. We've been trying to find the connection for the money laundering for over a year before getting a whiff of the Pink Poodle." I nodded to Peter and he watched the others compassionately.

"And you're both cops?" Adrian blushed and I smiled at him.

"Both cops. Here's the card of somebody you might want to go see. When you want to stop taking the cocaine, Adrian. No pressure. You're too good a man to stay in thrall to that vice." I lowered my voice and slipped Caine's card to him. I really hoped he would take my advice but I wasn't holding my breath.

They began to wander to their stations still chattering about the unexpected show but Paul was eyeing us both and I braced myself for his comments. "If you two aren't lovers for real, then I'm the Dalai Lama. Don't worry about any of us saying anything. Anytime you want to quit the dangerous stuff and come back to work here, Kermit, we'd be glad to have you."

"Thanks, Paul." Peter smiled at him and I watched Paul shake his head regretfully and go to answer the ringing phone. "Kermit, why are you still rubbing your hand? Did he hurt you while you were taking him?"

"Nah, just bruised it on his jaw. A little ice and I'll be fine. Of course, I'll probably need help with the paperwork." I tried an innocent look but he just snorted and pulled me out the door. One last wave to my former workmates and I was on my way back to the precinct.

********

Five hours later and the damn salon was beginning to look like an oasis. The paperwork was unbelievable and Assistant District Attorney Bailey was beginning to resemble one of those medieval torturers. And once the word came down that I'd broken the manager's jaw, I started getting disapproving looks and ominous head shaking.

The fact that it was the only mark on him and my hand was swollen as well didn't seem to matter. The terms 'excessive force' and 'biased observer' were flaunted about and I could feel my temper beginning to slip. Right now, what I really needed was a Peter-fix and it didn't seem I was going to get one any time soon.

"Mr. Bailey, if I could see you in my office?" Captain Simms, bless her heart, was giving me some time to cool down. "Kermit, put some ice on that hand. If the swelling doesn't go down soon, you'll need to get it x-rayed to be sure it's not broken as well."

"Sure, Captain." I left the interrogation room hastily and strode down the hall to the break room. We usually kept a flexible ice pack in the freezer above the refrigerator. Wrapping it around my hand, I hissed at the relief of the constant throbbing. The dispenser was out of paper towels and none were lurking under the sink, so I wandered down the hall to the former men's room near the stairway. 

We didn't use it much anymore since they put in the new one that was ADA compliant near the front offices. The old one was only a one-holer and hadn't been updated since installation. But it had paper towels and I wrapped one around my hand before putting the ice pack back. If I had a rubber band, I thought to myself, I could make sure it stayed in place.

The door opened and Peter slipped in. Our eyes met in the mirror above the sink and I watched while he slipped the bolt on the door and prowled up behind me. He moves so gracefully, I'm always reminded of a giant cat stalking his prey. And I was the lucky prey.

"How's your hand?" His arms slid around me and his head nuzzled my neck. 

I leaned back against him with a sigh, trusting in his strength to keep me on my feet. "It'll be fine, Peter. It's not broken, just sore."

He licked my neck and I turned my head just far enough to reach his lips. We feasted on each other gently until I could feel my resistance faltering. I wanted him suddenly, with a passion that didn't belong in the precinct. Stroking his hand at my waist, I shuddered when he rubbed against me.

"I know we shouldn't, Kermit, but I need you right now." His voice was a growl and I opened my eyes to see a predator looking back at me. He doesn't let him out very often and the way his eyes were devouring me, I couldn't help the frisson of lust that swept up my spine.

He pulled me back against the far wall where the open door of the toilet would hide our outlines to anyone going by in the hall. His hands were everywhere, loosening my shirt and unzipping my pants. I clutched his shoulders and hung on, watching his face and the intent look there. He seemed determined to devour me and I let him have his way.

His mouth was firm and open, sucking my tongue into his warm, spicy depths. The calluses on his fingers stroked my suddenly exposed cock and I arched into his grip with a hoarse cry, which he swallowed in his mouth. He had both legs between mine and the feel of rough denim on my inner thighs was sensuous torture.

My hand slipped down and fumbled with his buttons, seeking the heat I knew I would find there. Now, it was my turn to swallow a moan. He was rock hard and already leaking against my fingers.

"Kermit. Need you." He panted against my throat and I simply turned in his arms and braced myself against the tiled wall. "Oh god. Don't let me hurt you."

"Never have, never will, love. I've wanted you for days." And I had. It had been three days of pure hell while I hacked computers and cut hair. All because Captain Simms had needed him on another case. "In me, right now."

"Love you. Missed you. Need you." He lined up and slid in as if we'd never been apart. 

Holy Saint Winifred! I felt a spark flame inside of me that only Peter could light. "Love you too, Peter. Remind me that I belong to you."

"Mine." He growled in my ear and proceeded to fuck me to within an inch of my life.

My whole body became a flame and only Peter could put out the fire. He stroked my cock with both hands while his hips volleyed into mine with a steady piston motion that had me biting my other hand to keep back my moans. I writhed on his cock and his warning growl told me just how close he was. So I squeezed my muscles tight around him and felt him explode inside me.

The warm fluid shot deep while I anointed the wall with my own offering. Sighing, I held us both up with trembling arms. "Yours, Peter."

He shivered, his hands still fondling my limp and sensitive cock. "Oh god, Kermit. We just made love in the precinct."

I began to chuckle and then to laugh like there was no tomorrow. "I . . . I know. I guess . . . nothing really is sacred."

He was shaking with his own laughter and when he slipped from me, I could feel the trickles all down my legs. Leaving me for a moment, he returned with paper towels, gently cleaning me up. I traced his jaw line with one finger and he looked up at me with a blush.

"I'm sorry. Was I too rough?" He hovered before me still full of energy.

"Never be sorry for that, Peter." I pulled him into my arms and rested my forehead on his shoulder. "I love it when you have to have me. You are very satisfying to an aging mercenary ego."

"The radio said 'shots fired' and all I could see was your body lying bleeding on that stupid pink floor." He shuddered in my arms and I held him tightly.

"We need to talk about this. But later. I don't think the DA has had his entire pound of flesh from me yet. Dinner tonight? My place?" We had to set some guidelines if we were going to keep working together in this sometimes dangerous field. Maybe I really should retire and write that book?

"Yes." He pulled back a little and watched me with that Shaolin look he inherited from his father. "I'll stop at the bakery and get some fresh bread."

"Good." I reached down and pulled up my pants, grinning a little. Who'd have thought that Peter, of all people, would be so unconventional?

He helped tuck me back in, getting in a last caress that threatened to re-ignite the fire inside of me. I pushed him away with a stern look and wondered if I looked as freshly fucked as I felt. He just grinned and straightened my tie. Batting his hands from my throat, I dodged around him and headed for the mirror.

"I love you, Kermit. And I'll do whatever I have to, to keep you safe." He stood behind me and watched me in the mirror.

I watched him the same way, feeling the urge to tell him all kinds of crazy things. Marry me. Live with me. Quit being cops and live safe, normal lives. All the things I couldn't say to him.

"Tonight, love. We'll talk tonight." His eyes were so gentle when he kissed my ear and left the bathroom, leaving me clutching the sides of the cold porcelain sink.

Tonight.


	7. Party Kermit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parties can be amazing.

Party Kermit  
********************

I rolled my head in a circle to loosen the muscles and sat back from my computer to shake out my hands. It had been a long day and it didn't look to end anytime soon. The false trails the CPA had laid over his tracks were good but not quite good enough. I figured to have the stolen money located any moment now. Then I could go home to a hot bath and a cold beer.

Of course, without Peter, I'd better make it a cold shower and a hot cup of tea since it wouldn't be any fun without him. He was helping his father with something and I'd been missing him for three days. Of course it had done wonders for my concentration and I was close to cracking this guy's location. Ah well, back to work.

Ten minutes later, I had him. Reaching for the phone, I called Agent Wiggins of the local FBI office and gave him the glad news. He took the details and hung up without saying thanks. Par for the course. He was just pissed because I solved the problem before their super computers could. Ha, the day a computer does my thinking for me is the day I quit and write my memoirs.

Standing and really stretching, I shut down my computer and grabbed my coat. Throwing it over my shoulder, I turned off the light in my office and headed out. The night crew had come in and I waved to Kinkaid while passing Peter's empty desk with a twinge of regret for the loving I was *not* going to be greeted with when I walked in my front door.

The drive home was spent listening to an old Ella Fitzgerald tune on the radio and stopping for some Thai takeout so I wouldn't have to cook. Suddenly, all the long hours seemed to catch up with me and I could feel my eyelids grow weights. The cold shower woke me up long enough to eat dinner and rinse the dishes. I wasn't so far gone that I'd eat right out of the box but it was a close thing.

I stumbled into bed and a deep and dreamless sleep. Sometime in the night, I was partially aroused by someone getting into bed with me but a low voice and Peter's scent reassured me. Turning and settling into his arms, I went right back to sleep.

*****

I couldn't move and that was rather disconcerting but my body recognized the shape pressing me into the mattress and my nose drank in the lovely Peter-smell that had been missing much too long. Opening my eyes, I feasted on the sight of all that long lean strength laid out along my side. His cock was drilling a hole in my thigh and the leg he had between mine had pretty effectively trapped my morning erection against his groin.

This was going to be fun. I stroked the arm that was slung across my chest and triggered the hot spot behind his elbow. He shivered and cuddled closer. So, I licked his ear and gently rimmed it with my tongue. Now he was starting to come awake and he turned his head blindly seeking my lips. I obliged and tasted early morning Peter. My favorite.

Our tongues met and mated in a close approximation of what our bodies would be doing later. Much later, since his hand was on my cock by this time and I had him well in hand. We'd been so long apart that this bout was going to be quick. We knew each other so well, our hands knew just where to press and how much pressure to bring to bear.

I felt myself peak at the same moment he convulsed in my fist.

"Good morning, Peter. Back for good or just a break?"

"I'm back. We got our old friend settled in and I hotfooted it back here as soon as I could. I don't sleep well without you. I kept reaching for you and you weren't there." His sleepy eyes gazed sheepishly into mine and my heart skipped a beat.

"Me too. I guess I've gotten used to you warming my bed." I hesitated then went on. "And my heart."

He smiled and leaned forward to kiss me again. This one was tender and full of hopes and dreams. The same dreams that I was beginning to let myself believe in. The ones where we settled down and I retired for good from crime fighting to write my books and we lived happily ever after. Gods, I wanted that but part of me was afraid of wanting it so I always shied away from thinking too strongly about the future. 

We lay there until the stickiness turned uncomfortable and this time my shower was shared, lasting until we ran out of hot water. We made breakfast together in contented bliss and fed each other bites of toast smeared with strawberry jam. I dreaded having to go into work and I kept waiting for Peter to tell me he'd have to go.

But he just lounged in his chair with a silly smile on his face. I couldn't even call him on it since I was pretty sure I was wearing the identical grin. We played footsie under the table and I wanted time to stand still so we could just stay here forever.

"Kermit. I've got an invitation to a party and I want you to come with me." He captured my hand and stole my last bite of toast, licking my fingers free of any leftover jam. I could feel my toes curl at the wicked sensation of the rough tongue licks.

"A party? What kind of party? Do I know them?" It was hard to concentrate but I gave it my best shot.

"It's the old friend we just helped move. He wants to thank everyone who helped him and get to know new people here. I think you'll like him and his wife. They're good people." He looked sheepish again. "I may have mentioned you a time or two. Especially after we tried to hook up their computer and we kind of blew a circuit. They'd really like to meet you."

He gave me his best impression of a wounded puppy and I was hard pressed to keep back my grin. "Kermit, the police buddy or Kermit, I'll-bet-you-can-fix-that-computer friend?"

"Um, both."

"When is it?" I prepared to give in. Parties and I don't really agree but it might be worth the noise and loud music to see Peter relaxed and having fun with his friends.

"Saturday at 8:00. You'll come?" He looked so hopeful that I couldn't say no.

"Sure. Sounds like fun." It was only a partial lie.

"Great!" He leapt up and hugged me. "If we're lucky, we'll both have the weekend off and we can go straight from my place to the party."

"I hope so, Peter." And we left it at that while he helped me get ready for work.

I was an hour late.

******

The next few days flew by while I 'coordinated' with the FBI. One of them was more paranoid than usual. I like that in a man. He was cute too but mine was an academic noticing. It was too much fun watching Peter react to the agents cluttering up our precinct. For some reason, he bristled all over every time that agent and his partner showed up. And they came by several times.

Of course, I got the benefit of Peter's high energy and found myself smiling rather broadly on Saturday while I tried to find a way to sit that didn't proclaim the ache deep inside of me. A young lover is great for a man's ego. He looked rather sheepish and tried to be pleasant when they came to say thanks and good bye.

Captain Simms wished them well and hurried them on their way. She ran a gimlet eye over all of us once they were gone then relaxed into a small smile. "Good work, people. Thank you for your . . . restraint. Now, let's catch up on our own work."

So, we all worked like demons and pretty much caught up by the time we headed home. Peter insisted we go to his place for dinner before heading to the party. I had a few articles of clothing there that I could change into so I agreed. He headed for the phone to call for a pizza as soon as we entered the apartment while I headed up the stairs to the bedroom to start stripping away my clothes.

"If you shower without me, I will hurt you." He called laughingly up the stairs.

"Hurry, then. I'm grungy." I leisurely stripped off my suit and hung it up in the closet. Throwing my underwear into the hamper, I made a mental note to do laundry since the bin was full. Heading for the bathroom, I stopped in the doorway to watch the whirlwind who was my lover erupt into the room and begin flinging his clothes all over the floor.

He emerged naked with a gleam in his eye and stalked me straight into the shower. We soaped quickly then took our times rinsing. This time, he beat me to it, sinking to his knees and taking me in while I sank against the tiled wall and just tried to stay upright. Pretty soon, he sucked me dry and helped me out to dry off.

"Um, Kermit. I need to tell you something about the party." He was rubbing my back with the rough towel and I was leaning into him practically purring. But the doorbell rang and he grabbed a robe to go get the pizza. I found my robe and tied it off, wondering what he was going to confess. It had been that kind of 'um'.

I stood at the top of the stairs and watched him set the table for pizza. Not something I'd ever seen him do. Oh, this was going to be good. He could tell I was watching him because he stopped what he was doing and turned to face me, sheepishly.

"It's a costume party. But a special kind of costume."

"No frogs."

He smiled. "No frogs. We get to dress as our favorite fictional mystery characters."

Well, that could be intriguing. "Who?"

"Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson?" He looked up at me so hopefully that I couldn't keep up my skeptical look any longer.

"Dibs on Dr. Watson. He was the real brains behind that pair."

He stuck his tongue at me. "By some odd coincidence, the Dr. Watson costume is in your size. But your medical bag needs computer parts rather than bandages."

I just laughed and joined him at the table for pizza.

**********

I nursed a beer and watched some of the other partygoers. Our host was wearing a pillow to give him the proper heft for Nero Wolfe while his wife had powdered her hair white and drawn in a few wrinkles to portray Miss Marple with her knitting bag over her arm. The black skullcap on the young man near the fireplace was a nice attempt at the Rabbi Small look.

Caine had come as Simon Ark, dressed all in black with a Coptic cross about his neck. He was speaking to a young man, tastefully dressed in the white toga of Gordianus the Finder. The Ancient had come in a blue silk gown as Judge Dee and was speaking to a young woman dressed in the habit of a medieval nun. I had to think a moment until it came to me. Sister Frevisse.

Hercule Poirot spoke to a Modesty Blaise look-a-like. Father Koesler hobnobbed with Father Dowling while a Brother Cadfael put the moves on Judge Deborah Knott. Shaking my head, I smiled into my beer and contemplated the tall good looking Holmes headed my way. Peter stopped for a moment to speak to his father and I watched Gordianus pinch his ass with a leer.

Those Romans! I'd already fixed the broken computer and chatted with all and sundry. Right now, I was ready to do a little investigating of my own to solve the puzzle that was my lover. Who was headed my way with a sheepish grin on his face. But his eyes were sparkling so he was probably reading my mind again. He did that a lot lately.

"Well, Holmes, I have a mystery for you."

"Really, Watson. I would enjoy hearing about it."

"It's a theft, I'm afraid. Most serious." I frowned and shook my head.

He looked startled for a moment. "Something of yours, Watson?"

"Yes, Holmes. I've had it for some time but just recently it passed from my keeping into another's. Quite without my knowledge."

"Really. Perhaps something was traded for it." His eyes had gone darker and he moved closer to me.

"Do you think so, Sherlock? It would be nice to think so." I took another sip of my beer without my eyes dropping from his.

"I think . . ." he hesitated then continued "I think we should go home to investigate this theft."

"Oh yeah!" I breathed out and used my body to shield my intimate caress to his Victorian waistcoat. He tensed before relaxing with a sigh.

"I can promise you a most . . . rigorous search for clues." He promised me under his breath while we headed for our host.

He thanked me for restoring his computer and his wife pressed a container of cookies on us for later. Peter had driven so I got to torment him all the way home. I slowly drove him insane by stroking his well-covered cock with loving attention. We went back to his place since it was closer and I could tell that he wasn't going to last long this first time.

So I had him unbuttoned before he got the door open and when we were safely inside, I went to my knees and deep throated him against the door. I love the taste of him, all slick and salty. He was leaking copiously and I made sure I massaged his perineum while I sucked him to a quick climax.

"Well . . . Watson, did you get the name of that hansom cab that just hit me?" His eyes were shut and he was breathing hard.

"I'm so sorry, Holmes. But I didn't. Perhaps another search is called for." I cleaned him up and stood to share a kiss.

His arms came around me, holding tight while we rubbed our tongues together languidly. His eyes held mine when we finally broke apart. "I believe I was supposed to be looking for a missing item?"

"Ah, yes. I know it's quite careless of me but I seem to have mislaid my heart. It seems to have been stolen by a tall man with the sexiest body I've ever seen." I had a hard time admitting that when I felt so vulnerable. But he deserved everything I could give him.

"Really. What a coincidence. I lost my heart to a man with the most beautiful green eyes." He held me close and I rested against his heart, listening to it beat. "I think we need to investigate the shower again."

"Why, Holmes, what a good idea. You're a genius." I grinned up at him and began unbuttoning the small buttons on his English suit. "But if I were you, I'd lose the deer stalker. It might melt under the hot water."

"Damn, I forgot I had it on." He snatched it off and threw it onto the back of the sofa. "Do you think that Holmes and Watson were lovers?"

"Undoubtedly. For two fictional characters, they were so obviously together even if Watson did marry once or twice. Just camouflage." I finished the wool vest and began on his shirt buttons, exposing the satin flesh I loved to touch. He looked completely debauched with all his buttons undone and his cock beginning to twitch to life again against the charcoal cloth.

"Kermit, I think I'm allergic to wool. My cock is beginning to itch." He moved restlessly and wiggled enough to drop his pants. So we both finished undressing, taking the time to hang up our costumes before hitting the shower for a quick wash.

It was midnight when we relaxed into bed. I was thinking hard about asking Peter for a commitment. We'd already admitted that we loved each other and I was beginning to think of the future. Not something I had done in a very long time. But maybe it was time. We were doing more things together in public and we had his father's blessing. Sooner or later, our relationship was going to come out.

"Peter, how would you feel about finding a place together? Some place with a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom with a big bathtub." I held my breath while I waited for his answer.

"Move in together? Be together all the time?" He raised up over me and I could see his eyes sparkle. "Yes . . . yes . . . yes." Each yes was punctuated with a hard kiss. "How about we fill out the papers for domestic partners while we're at it?"

"Are you sure, Peter? I'm close to retirement but you've still got a ways to go and we don't know how the others will react." I didn't want him hurt.

"I think they'll be okay with it. And if they're not, to hell with them. Pop is just waiting for me to go the Shaolin route and one of these days, I probably will. Then you can write your books while I train and we can be together the rest of the time." He spoke so earnestly, I could tell he'd been thinking about this.

"Then, that's what we'll do. I love you, Peter and I don't want you hurt." I ran my thumb over that sultry lower lip.

"I love you too, Kermit. I'll be fine." He licked my thumb. "I think Pop may be ahead of us again. He mentioned that the building next to his is ready to go condo and the top floor has the wiring and plumbing installed but nothing else. We could go look at it."

"Later. Right now, I think something's come up that needs our attention." I moved him onto his back and slithered over him. We made love slowly and carefully, Peter handing me the lube with a smile and a soft caress to my steel hard cock.

Once I was inside of him, I paused, suddenly hardly able to believe where we were. He read my mind and slid his hands slowly up my chest to cup my face. "We are here because we want to be. We love each other and our future is together. Forever."

"Forever, Peter." I began the driving rhythm that would bring us both to the brink. Collapsing onto his heaving chest, I did a little panting of my own.

"A bathtub for two."

"The kitchen has to have two ovens. And a second sink in the island."

"Clerestory windows for light but we won't have to worry about anyone looking in."

"Let's get rid of my sofa and just use yours. But we'll keep my dining room set."

"King-size bed." We spoke simultaneously and laughed ourselves to sleep.

****************  
The end for now

Note: The authors that go with the detectives from this story are listed next.  
Author Detective  
Rex Stout Nero Wolfe  
Agatha Christie Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot  
Harry Kemelman Rabbi David Small  
Edward Hoch Simon Ark  
Steven Saylor Gordianus the Finder  
Robert van Gulik Judge Dee  
Margaret Frazer Sister Frevisse  
Peter O'Donnell Modesty Blaise  
William Kienzle Father Koesler  
Ralph McInerny Father Dowling  
Ellis Peters Brother Cadfael  
Margaret Maron Judge Deborah Knott


	8. Plumber Kermit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their new loft is perfect - except for a few things like running water.

Plumber Kermit  
****************

I sat back on my heels and contemplated the mess of pipes under the new double cabinet. With a little sigh, I started in on making all the connections fit together. While I worked, the memory of the last few weeks flashed through my mind. We'd looked at the loft, fallen in love with it and bought it the next day. My ill-gotten gains in the Swiss bank account had come in handy. Our new home was a little bare on the amenities but it had the important things.

Like Peter and I. Under one roof. Somehow, in my middle age, I'd found a home and someone to share it with. We'd moved in the furniture we both agreed on and bought a new bed. But our initial desire for a king sized had fallen by the wayside and we'd gotten a queen instead. I was way too used to having him right by my side to risk loosing contact in a too big bed.

We'd let both of our apartments and Caine was putting us up until the bare necessities were in. All we had was a large open space for the time being with no inner walls. The loft had wiring and plumbing roughed in but no sinks, lights or bathrooms were present. We'd taken Kinkaid into our confidence and he'd gotten us a deal on the bathroom fixtures from his Uncle Al so we were slowly but surely installing them. I was doing the plumbing while Peter played electrician.

But at the moment, he was on a stakeout and had been for two days. We talked when we could but it didn't fill the need to see him or feel his hug. I'd gotten a lot done this weekend and Caine had even lent a hand when it came time to lift the countertop and sinks into place. I'd insisted on two since I know how the kid is in the morning.

Using the pipe wrench to tighten down the connection, I concentrated on making sure it wouldn't leak the first time we turned on the water. The shower stall was already in but the bathtub wasn't hooked up yet to the water supply. They'd delivered the hot water heater on Friday and I was rather looking forward to a long shower once I finished installing the drains and traps on both sinks.

The sound of a closing door broke my attention and I called out to the Shaolin who'd said he would stop by later. "Hey, Caine, could you turn on the water to the sinks?"

Footsteps echoed oddly within the small-enclosed space but then the gurgle of rushing water resounded through the pipes and I watched from flat on my back while my connections held. A little condensation was all, no drips and no leaks. While I was congratulating myself, a pair of legs appeared through the open door of the cabinet.

Not Caine's legs, at least not the elder Caine. Then I heard the voice that haunted my dreams. "Kermit, you have no idea how tempting you look, all sprawled out under there. Especially to a starving man."

Then he was straddling my legs and working on the button and zipper that held my jeans together. I decided not to protest when I caught a glimpse of his intent look. He was looking at me like a hungry tiger might eye his first steak of the night. It didn't seem to matter that I was grimy and sweaty. He was pulling off my jeans and going down on my half hard cock in a matter of moments.

I remembered to put down the wrench before I hurt either of us. Then my fingers were carding through his hair while he sucked me to complete hardness. "Peter." There I'd managed to say his name even though my brains were heading south at the speed of light.

Or should I say the speed of suction? Damn, but he was good at this. I had no stamina after two deprived days without him and my hips pumped up three times before I lost it. He licked up the drops of semen like I was his favorite flavor before kissing my stomach and sitting back on his heels.

"Hi, honey. I'm home." He said sheepishly while pulling me out from under the cabinet and helping me sit up. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to attack you but you looked so good all laid out for me."

"Well, all I can say is thank goodness it wasn't your father. Damn." I turned around, reaching up to turn off the open faucets before we wasted any more water. "What do you think?"

"I think you've been working very hard and need a break. They look good." His gaze roamed over the sinks and most importantly the toilet. The working toilet. So, we didn't have any walls up yet. It just meant we couldn't have visitors. Not that that was a bad thing.

"I was thinking we might put the bed up tonight and sleep over here. Everything but the tub is connected. And we could make all the noise we want." I pulled him in close and ran my hands down his back to that tight ass that I'd been dreaming of every night.

"What a good idea." He copied my gesture but of course, I was naked so it felt even better. "I think I'm overdressed for this party."

"The shower works and so does the hot water heater. How about we test them out now?" I was already unbuttoning his shirt and slipping it off the broad shoulders. Leaning in, I inhaled him like a bouquet of flowers and licked the salty sweet skin at the base of his throat.

"Oh, yeah-h-h-h." He arched back exposing his throat to me. I tasted him slowly, savoring the taste and smell of him after being deprived of both for so long. "But maybe we should put the bed together first, then shower."

I pulled back and sighed, meeting those beautiful eyes of his. "Good thinking. These floors are hard on my aging back."

His eyes went sultry while his hand came up to caress my cheek. "I'll give you a massage after our shower."

I turned my head to kiss his palm. "It's a deal."

It took us almost half an hour to put the bed together. I'd always wanted a four-poster and Caine had found this one for us in an antique store on the other side of town. Peter didn't care one way or the other and he'd watched indulgently while his father and I went over the hundred-year-old wood with a fine toothed comb. It was structurally sound and the dark oak posts were a good six inches thick at the base. They rose above the bed to a height of about seven feet. 

The headboard was carved in a riotous garden of flowers with trailing vines and leaves ascending the pillars at each corner. Luckily all the pieces were labeled and numbered so we got it together with a minimum of swearing. The queen-sized mattress and springs barely fit but someone in the last twenty years had modified the base to take the bigger size.

We'd gone shopping for new sheets together and discovered that our tastes were thankfully similar. The 500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets were a dark green and expensive as hell but worth it in the silky feel. I had gotten a new firm pillow but Peter preferred a softer brand so the head was going to be a little lopsided but at the moment, I didn't care. I was tired and craved a hot shower and about ten hours of oblivion.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't sleep well without him. But then he admits to feeling the same way. A knock on the door brought his head up from where he was tucking in the top sheet. "It's Pop. I'll get it."

Nodding, I went to the wooden cedar chest to get the flannel cover from his old bed. I had nothing but good memories of it and it matched the sheets pretty well. The murmur of voices came to my ears and I finished up so I could see what was happening. But just as I neared the door, Peter closed it behind him with a soft goodnight. He had to use his foot because his hands were full of boxes and a basket.

"Dinner. Pop said he understands we're christening the loft tonight. He suggested the zinfandel." Peter was barely keeping his chuckle inside.

I took two of the boxes from him, inhaling the subtle aromas of beef and broccoli. "I love the way your father reads our minds." I was only half joking. Sometimes I wonder just how bonded the two of them are or if its just part of the whole Shaolin thing. And if Peter was going to start reading my mind any time soon.

"I already can." He grinned at me and carried the rest of the bundles to the dining room table from my apartment while I watched open-mouthed.

Damn. I really was losing my inscrutability. Or he was getting better at reading my expressions. Chuckling under my breath, I followed him and laid the boxes on the hot pad in the center of the table. Finding the box that served as our temporary wine cellar, I pulled out a white zinfandel about four years old that should go quite well with the beef.

By the time I'd found the corkscrew and opened the bottle, he had the dishes in place and two chairs pulled up on opposite sides of the table. I poured us each a glass of wine while Peter turned on the jazz station for some mood music. We sat down to our first real meal in our new home.

Home. What an unbelievable concept for an ex-mercenary, ex-shadow dweller. I listened to him tell about the stakeout and the mind numbing boredom of his partner's conversation. He told it with a smile but I could see the toll it had taken on him. His patience quotient was much greater now that he'd begun meditating more often but he was still young enough to get restless when he didn't have an outlet for his energy.

And since I was his preferred outlet . . . I found myself grinning at him while his own smile grew brighter.

"I know what you're thinking, Kermit."

"Yes, you do, Peter. I think I have a solution to that . . . energy problem you're having. And there's something we haven't ever done before." I couldn't suppress a surge of complete lust at my desire.

He flushed and finished his wine. "Can't wait."

I smiled at his bravery. "Well, first we need to wash the dishes in the bathroom since those are the only two sinks that work at the moment. Then, we need to clean up."

"It's a plan." His eyes were starting to go sultry on me and I could feel the echoing loft begin to heat up. We gathered up the debris of dinner and I found the dish soap in another box while he carried the stacked dishes to our new sinks.

Soon everything was washed, dried and stacked on the table while I thought about what I was going to ask him.

"I love you, Kermit. Just ask me." Peter had returned while I was watching the soapy suds disappear down the drain. Sliding his arms around me, he feathered a kiss on the tip of my ear and gently traced the rim with the tip of his tongue. 

"Shower first. We're both grimy now. And you need to wash away the stakeout." I kissed him and pulled him towards the new corner shower. The big new shower that fit so neatly into the wall studs without any sheet rock.

He laughed and followed me, unzipping my jeans for the second time that day while I reached in and turned on the water. Sending up a quick prayer that the hot water heater had had time to reach full temp, I attacked his jeans with a sudden urge to see him naked. It had been way too long.

The water was hot and so was my lover. We soaped each other with tender hands, relearning all the trigger points and searching for new ones. We were totally clean when the hot water ran out and we dashed out of the shower, laughing at the shock of cold. Dripping on our newly sanded and polyurethane pine floor, we toweled off hastily and mopped up the drips with our semi-wet towels before throwing them in the hamper.

"Now, what was it you wanted us to do that we've never done before?" Peter quirked an eyebrow at me and I suddenly felt shy.

"Dance with me?" Was it too mushy? Did I sound too needy?

His eyes began to sparkle. "I thought you'd never ask."

The radio was playing something rhythmic with lots of sax and a drum beat that kept everything in time. Leading me to the Chinese rug by the bed, Peter put both hands on my hips while I linked mine behind his head. Holding each other, we swayed to the music while our eyes held silent agreement of just how right this felt. He pulled me a little closer and our groins matched with a gentle friction, that for the moment tantalized rather than inflamed.

I found the pulse in his throat drawing me in even closer while I breathed on the tender spot and caressed it with a gentle kiss. He hummed appreciatively and nuzzled my temple with his soft lips. We moved to the music slowly, our feet gliding across the silky weave of the ancient carpet.

"Love you, Kermit." The murmur in my ear melted me with the intense emotions it evoked.

Pulling back just far enough to look into his eyes, I shook my head in wonder. "I love you too, Peter. How did I get so lucky?"

"I'm the lucky one." He drew me back and rested his cheek against mine. "With you, I've found the still center that Pop always told me I'd find one day. It's like your love opened me up and let me see myself for the first time."

Moving my head a fraction, I touched my lips to his. Just a touch. A reaffirmation of life and love. "All of you is beautiful, Peter. Inside and out."

"So are you, Kermit." He smiled at my automatic denial. "No, it's true. You shine like a beacon for me, dazzling in your light. With you there, I'm not afraid of what I'll find inside my shadowy corners."

"My shadows are numerous, love. You may not like what you will find if you shine into the dark places inside of me."

"No." He was serene in his knowledge. "Someday you'll see what I see when I look at you. Strength, endurance, courage. Take a chance with me."

I chuckled through the lump in my throat. "Thought we already took our chance when we fell in love?"

"Another chance." His eyes glowed and I could tell that whatever he was going to ask, I was going to say yes. "Let's invite our friends over and christen the place with a party."

I could tell he'd thought about it, the hope in his eyes was plain to see. Thinking about the crew at the precinct, I weighed the risks against his need to share our happiness with the people he was close to. Oh hell, the people *we* were close to. Somehow, along the way, I'd become part of a team again and I was curious about what they'd say once it became clear that Peter and I were now a couple.

"All right. But not just now." I pressed my groin into his and watched his eyes light up and then darken in the space of a heartbeat.

"Oh yeah!" He waltzed us over to the bed and tipped me back onto the comforter, following me down and covering me with his body.

We made love slowly, christening the bed with long hours of tender touches and burning need. I slipped inside of him easily and held myself up on shaking arms to watch the wanton look on his face, his breath coming in great gasps and his hands clutching my shoulders. The passion built in intensity until it was too much to bear and I released into his depths with a cry of almost pain.

He followed me in silence, his eyes rolling back in his head and his entire body going limp beneath me. His seed spilled against our overheated skin and I found myself relaxing into a boneless sprawl onto his chest. We were going to be glued together if we didn't get up soon but at the moment I couldn't find the energy to care. Or to move.

Tomorrow . . . tomorrow . . .


	9. Trick or Treat Kermit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's lurking in the fog?

Trick and Treat Kermit  
********************** 

I stretched at my desk and hit save on the computer file I’d been reading. The dull, boring police files could have used some imagination but then crooks often lacked common sense, let alone a flair for larceny. I picked up my coffee cup and frowned at the brown sludge in the bottom. How long had it been since I’d poured that? Glancing at the clock, I sighed. Too long. I was going to be late . . . again.

Powering off my computer, I grabbed for the phone. It was my turn to cook so hopefully Peter wouldn’t mind if I stopped and picked up something.

“Hi! You have reached 334-2789. We can’t come to the phone right now but if you’d like to leave a message, feel free to wait for the beep.”

Where the hell was he? I hung up and slipped my jacket off the back of my chair to carry over my arm. Checking for my keys, I headed out after turning off my lights. The shift had changed and I waved goodbye to Chief Strenlich. The poor bastard had drawn the short straw and had to try and keep a lid on the holiday madness. The moon was just rising overhead, playing peek-a-boo between the heavy clouds and I automatically checked its size. Unless I was seeing things, it was full to bursting. Suppressing a grin, I thought about how appropriate a full moon was on All Hallows Eve.

Unlocking the car, I checked to see if Peter had left me a note. Nothing. I wondered where he was while I backed out of my parking space. Slamming on the brakes, I avoided hitting the black cat that shot across my headlights. Oh great, just my luck it had to be black. Chuckling a little, I thought of Mary Margaret and her fear of superstitions just like that one. The heavy mist was enough to make the intermittent wind shield wipers a necessity.

Looking both ways, I pulled out into surprisingly sparse traffic only to slam on the brakes again as a skeleton dashed out between two parked cars by the side of the road. He was followed by a little girl in a pink tutu who waved her fairy wand at me happily and an adult with a rather harried look on her face. I waved back and kept my comments to myself. I realized that Peter and I hadn’t had the candy versus apple discussion so I turned towards the neighborhood grocery to pick up some of each.

I wasn’t the only one doing a little last minute shopping so I waited as patiently as I could while juggling three plastic bags of assorted sugary treats and two pounds of apples. I lost the battle just as I got up to the counter and had to bend over to retrieve the Tootsie Rolls. So, when the guy pulled out a gun and started waving it at the only cashier, I had plenty of time to take aim and pitch an apple deflecting his shot. I was too busy tackling him to the ground to notice where the bullet had gone. In fact, it was only when the squad car had come and taken him away that I noticed the broken shards of the surveillance mirror.

Whoa, seven years bad luck for him, I thought while tucking my bag away in the back seat. The manager had insisted that my money was no good. He was almost tearful in his thanks, telling me that the cashier was his daughter and more dear to him than any amount of groceries. Heading for the loft, I decided that it would be safer to just stay home tonight. Too many weird things were happening to suit me.

I parked behind the old warehouse that was now home and grabbed the bag of groceries. The mist of the day seemed to curl and twist into a cold fog that chilled the breath and froze you to the bone. It rose from the pavement and eddied about the objects between the buildings, first masking them from view then clearing enough to reveal them. Starting down the alley, I suddenly came upon a ladder stretching up to the second floor. My path led directly under it. Continue on or play it safe? I actually stopped and thought about it. Me, Mr. No-Such-Thing-As-A-Superstition was really thinking that maybe, just this once, it couldn’t hurt to give it a miss.

Especially after the other events of the day.

So, I detoured around it and over by the dumpsters, which served both buildings. I was almost too busy chastising myself to hear the pathetic little cry but something caught my attention and I stopped again. Five feet away and I’d have never heard the tiny little squeak. The alley was totally silent and I set my sack down, stepping quietly over and throwing back the metal lid.

Squeak!

The garbage moved ominously in the fogged glow of the street light at the end of the alley. Sending up a prayer that I wasn’t about to find an expiring body or a big nasty rat, I found my gun in one hand and my key chain flashlight in the other. A paper bag seemed to be breathing on top of the normal bags of kitchen waste and used newspapers. Putting my gun back in my shoulder holster, I gingerly opened the bag to find a pair of tiny kittens barely moving except for an occasional shiver.

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s people who think that small animals are disposable. Gently, I lifted the damp bag and cradled it against my chest. Picking up my original sack, I hurried to the alley door that led to the back staircase of our building. We were still the only owner/inhabitants so I keyed open the lock rather awkwardly still juggling my two packages.

Remembering that I hadn’t seen Peter’s car, I hesitated before locking back up. There had already been several acts of vandalism in the neighborhood and since Halloween seemed to bring out the nuts, I couldn’t be sure that an unlocked door might not be an incitement to riot. The squeaks were rather more pronounced now and I hurried up the stairs to our third floor loft.

That lock was a digital keypad and I set my grocery sack down and punched in the number sequence that unlocked the door and turned on the light nearest the door. A little innovation that a friend of mine had come up with. I dragged in the groceries just far enough to let the door swing shut then I crossed to the kitchen island to set down the torn wet paper bag. The kittens seemed to sense that relief was near and the little mewling sounds increased in volume when I gently ripped the bag open.

Their eyes were open so I estimated their age at about six weeks. Their fur was matted and soaked in something that smelled suspiciously like kerosene. Black fur. If I ever got my hands on whoever had doused them and then left them to die, I was going to break some heads. I breathed a sigh of frustrated anger while trying to gently move them to the sink. Tiny little kitten claws scrabbled at the stainless steel sides while they shivered in the chill air of the loft. I set the kitchen towel over them gently and tried to think what I needed to do first.

I made a mental list in my head of all the things I had to do while I removed my jacket and slung it over a dining room chair. We had some baby shampoo in the bathroom so I got it and a couple of towels we normally used when we washed the cars from under the sink. I turned up the heat then hurried back when the squeaks started to sound frightened. Checking for a note from Peter, I found nothing.

Picking up the kitchen phone, I hit the speed dial for Caine. Peter had finally talked him into getting one for emergencies. The Ancient usually answered but this time, the man himself picked it up.

“This is . . . Caine.”

“Caine, Kermit here. Is Peter with you or did he call?”

“No. Is there something wrong?”

“Um, not exactly.” The squeaks were getting louder. “I seem to have picked up a couple of new room mates.”

“They sound hungry. Also frightened.”

I told him the story and asked his advice about cleaning the kerosene off of them. He approved the baby shampoo and volunteered to come over and help. I accepted his offer with a sense of relief. They were just so tiny in my hands. I felt like I’d break one without meaning to. I know cats are resilient creatures and always land on their feet but these little guys hadn’t had enough time to learn those coping skills.

The knock on the door heralded the arrival of the calvary. I let Caine in with a kitten in each hand, handing him one of them immediately. Peace seemed to enter with him and we set about getting them clean. He washed one in the left side of the sink then handed it off to me for rinsing in the other side while he repeated the process. Their indignant meows echoed in the still air of the loft and each towel quickly grew wet as they mopped up the sodden fur. 

Caine had brought some milk with him and a baby bottle from a child’s doll set. I didn’t even try to figure out why he had one of those, I just put some milk in the microwave and nuked it until it was warm. Then Caine and I settled in on the sofa, taking turns at feeding the kittens. Their fur was drying quickly and as their tummies filled, they slowly fell asleep. The one I held curled up in my hand fell asleep in mid-slurp with its tail over its eyes.

Moving very gently, I handed the little guy off to Caine and went to get a bed ready for them. Peter had gotten a new pair of sneakers and the box was still in the closet. The flannel covered heating pad for my aching joints was in one of the bathroom drawers and once I figured out where to plug it in, their bed would be complete. After a low voiced discussion with Caine, I set it down near my side of the bed half under the carved oak stand that served as my bedside table.

Setting the pad to low, I layered two of Peter’s clean sweat socks over the flannel. That looked like a soft enough nest for a pair of foundlings. A whisper of sound announced Caine’s soft-footed presence. He laid them gently down into their new bed and after some minor squirming, they were out like a light. I slid the lid part way over the box to keep in the heat. We watched them for a moment before heading back to the living room.

Just as we got there, the lights went out.

“You know, Caine, this has been a very odd day.”

He chuckled and I heard a match scrape just before he lit the candles on the dining room table. “All Hallows Eve is when the wall between the worlds grows thin and mischievous spirits wander the earth.”

I was looking out of the window in the dining room and what I saw confirmed my first impression. “It looks like it’s bigger than just this building. The glow from the radio station sign four blocks over is gone. Even the fog looks thicker. I wonder just how far the blackout extends. And where the hell Peter is?”

Caine stood silently, his eyes on a distant vision. I moved quietly to light the gas fire in the freestanding black metal fireplace we’d installed in the middle of the living room area. Peter had wanted a real one but after I reminded him who would be carrying up each and every stick of wood, he thought twice. But since our gas connection heated our water and cooked our meals, it only made sense to have it provide our fire too. When the power went out, it came in really handy as a back-up heat source.

“He is . . . all right. Frustrated but not . . . hurt.” Caine shrugged.

“Well, I haven’t eaten yet. How about you?” I put my worry about Peter aside and moved towards the kitchen.

“I could eat.” He joined me and we made scrambled eggs and bacon, toasting our bagels over the gas fire.

Sitting in front of the flickering flames, I stretched out my legs and leaned back against the heavy glass and oak coffee table. Sipping a glass of wine, I bit the bullet and asked Caine the question that had been tormenting me since Peter and I got together. “How do you feel about our relationship, Caine?”

He sat in lotus position beside me with his own glass of wine. “All I have ever wanted for my son is his health and happiness. His spirit has been restless for the last few years. You gave him a friendship unlike any he had known before. You accepted him completely at a time when he questioned all around him. Especially my teachings and my . . . presence in his life.”

I nodded, remembering the redwood-sized chip on Peter’s shoulder when I first met him. Such a driving spirit which never took anyone or anything at face value. He’d reminded me of myself at a much younger age. I had a sudden fear that maybe I’d quenched his fire with my own certainties.

“Nonsense, Kermit. His steel was but tempered by the fire of his experiences with the Sin Wah.” Caine read my mind again. 

Like Father, like son.

“I worry that I’m too old for him. That I’m keeping him from finding a nice girl and having children to pass on your family traditions. He’s fourth generation but if he stays with me . . . it will end with him.” That was one of my greatest fears.

“Peter loves with all his heart. Before you, he chose hastily and perhaps . . . without realizing the consequences.” Caine sipped his wine and seemed to gaze deep into the heart of the flame. “There are always options should the two of you decide to become fathers. Unless . . . you have no wish to have . . . another.”

My past keeps coming back to haunt me. But he and I had never spoken of the time he and Peter had come to my rescue. “Scott was conceived when I was 20 years old and a sophomore in college. She was sunlight and roses. Gentle, sweet, loving. Everything I’d ever dreamed of. We were so in love, it shone from us. But her family was from a totally different class than mine. Suddenly my scholarship was yanked out from under me. I got fired from my campus job and evicted from my apartment. And Tracy left without a word.”

I hadn’t thought about that time in years. All the old pain rose up from the murky depths of my soul and washed through me like a tidal wave. Gritting my teeth, I let it go.

“I headed for Europe and started on the road that led to my mercenary career. On one of my infrequent trips home to go to my father’s funeral, I met up with Tracy again. She told me her father had engineered my dismissal and our breakup. Then she told me we’d had a son.” I remembered the shock of it as if it were yesterday. “She’d named him Scott and said he wanted to be a pilot like his dad. She’d married an Air Force captain when he was a baby and he was the only father Scott had ever known. It felt like a betrayal all over again. I had a son but I could never tell him I was his father.”

“He still does not know?”

“No. I’m just an old college friend of the family. When he disappeared, she came to me and begged for me to use my contacts to find him. You know the rest of it.” I finished my wine and set my glass aside. The loft felt colder to me and I hugged my knees to my chest. “He’s a good man but I can’t take any credit for that. I’m a stranger and that’s the way it is. I keep track of him. He’s on the short list to make major next year. And he’s engaged to be married to a nice girl named Elizabeth. Tracy writes me once a year and catches me up on his life. And of course, I have my own military sources.”

“You are afraid that Peter will miss the chance to be a father but in all ways but one, you have also missed that experience. I think you would both be good fathers, if only because you both know the lack of having or being one.” Caine’s face showed his own acceptance of the years that he and Peter had been apart.

“A wise man once said that we’re the sum total of every experience we’ve ever had. Good or bad, happy or sad, it all makes us the person we are. Over the years, I’ve finally made my peace with some of my decisions. Not that I wouldn’t do some of them differently if I had them to do over but on the whole, I’m pretty content with life.” I looked towards the windows and watched the gray-white fog press against the glass panes like dirty cotton balls. “Peter is the blessing I never expected.”

Caine’s smile is rare but it lights up his whole face when it appears. “You do not need a father’s blessing . . . but you have it. Peter has found his balance and because of that, he now can love as I have always wished him to. That equilibrium enables you both to love each other with your eyes open. Such a love is exactly what every parent wishes for their children.”

I sighed and relaxed, recognizing my defensive posture for what it was . . . a shield to protect myself from the judging words I’d half expected from him. I knew better with my brain, he is the original nonjudgmental Shaolin but my heart . . . well, that was a different story. “Thank you, Caine. I appreciate your support.”

“You always have that, Kermit.” 

Who knows where the conversation might have gone but with a sudden crash the door sprang open and Peter staggered in. But it wasn’t the Peter who’d left that morning. No, this was a man who looked like he’d been hosed down with cold water, dropped in a pit of mud then dragged behind a truck for a block or two. I was on my feet and headed for him before the door had had a chance to shut. 

“Peter! Are you all right?” I searched for signs that he was wounded but the caked mud obscured most of his features. His leather jacket would never be the same and I mentally added one to his Christmas list.

“Kermit.” He was so tired he was swaying on his feet and gratefully accepted my arm around his waist to give him some support.

“My son, you are badly bruised.” Caine had joined me and together we got his jacket off while keeping him upright.

“It hurts a bit.” My lover, the understatement-king. 

We steered him into the bathroom and Caine began to run some water into our big tub. I sat Peter down on the toilet lid and told him to stay put while I went to fetch a candle. Caine may be able to see in the dark but I needed light to see what I was doing. Shielding the flame from the moving air currents, I returned to find Caine sprinkling some dried herbs into the steaming water and Peter struggling to get the buttons on his shirt undone with half frozen fingers.

“My job, lover,” batting his hands away and undoing them myself. “You want to tell us what happened or should we just make up a story to fit your condition?”

“The truth is stranger than anything you could make up. It all started when they sent TJ and me out to investigate a suspected body in River Heights. When we got there, no body but lots of blood. The trail led off into a small park and I followed the blood spots while TJ called for backup.” Peter shivered while I levered his new sneakers off. They were goners for sure.

“Hadn’t gone all that far when something started howling. Sounded like wolves or coyotes or . . .” he shrugged and winced. “This weird mist kept getting thicker and thicker so I couldn’t tell where the howling was coming from or even where I was. I started retracing my steps but somehow I must have gotten turned around because the next thing I know, I’m sliding down a hill, straight into the boat pond.”  
His feet were icy cold and every bit of flesh had a pale, almost translucent quality to it. “Up you get, Peter. Let’s get those jeans off so you can get into the tub and start warming.”

He wavered a bit as I pulled down his pants, one hand going out to lean on the sink counter top. Goose bumps rose under my fingers and I gently lifted each foot out from the tangle of wet cotton and denim. Caine steadied him on one side while I took the other. The tub was full and smelled of spearmint. Peter winced when his chilled flesh hit the hot water but I saw the reddening skin as a hopeful sign that hypothermia had been averted. 

“Oh, that feels so good.” He sighed, sliding down to submerge head and all. The water quickly went gray with the mud. When he reemerged, I had the shampoo ready and kneeling by the tub, I felt his muscles begin to relax under my fingers. “Heaven, Kermit. Feels wonderful. After TJ pulled me out of the pond, he told me the body was a prank by some college fraternity along with fake blood. He’d caught them and turned them over to the squad car. I drove him back to the station and he told me to go home while he wrote up the report.”

“Rinse, Peter.” I let him go and he submerged again while I tangled my fingers in his hair to get out all the suds. He came back up and I wrapped a towel around his head to catch the drips. “Then what happened?”

“I was driving home and the damned world went weird on me. A black cat ran across the road and when I swerved to miss it, the car died on me. Nothing I did would start it back up. My cell phone battery was drained and the pay phone on the corner was broken. I looked so scary that no one would stop and pick me up. I was still about a mile from home so I started walking. Then that weird fog started creeping in about three blocks from here and I said ‘uncle’ and ran the rest of the way home.”

“Bad day all around.” I’d rolled up my sleeves and was elbow deep in the water, washing him from head to toe. His feet still felt cold to my touch so I began a deep massage to get the circulation going.

He sighed and opened sleepy blue-green eyes. “Well, at least it’s ending better than it began. Thanks, Pop.”

Caine handed him a cup of tea and rubbed the towel over Peter’s drying hair. “You’re welcome. And don’t call me Pop. Did you feel anything when you were in the fog?”

Peter drank down his tea and looked quizzically at his father. “Not that I’m aware of. Why? Should I have?”

“No, not necessarily. Some manifestations of the Sin Wah are represented by fog in the paintings of ancient China.” He was combing Peter’s hair back from his face and I had a sudden picture of him doing that to a very young Peter of two or three.

“Not evil. Just . . .” Peter struggled to find the right words while I kept up the soothing caresses to his left foot. “Mischievous. Like the fog was part of a child’s game and I didn’t know the rules to play. Not safely anyway.”

“Ah.” Caine’s voice told me he understood while I was still puzzling over my lover’s impressions. “I was just telling Kermit that the walls between the worlds grow thin this evening.”

“Ghosts and goblins,” Peter’s voice slurred slightly and his eyes drifted shut.

“Something like that.” Caine gave his little half smile. “I shall go and make some more tea for the both of you. You should not stay too long in the water.”

“Yeah, I feel like going to bed for a week.” Peter grinned tiredly.

“Then that’s what you should do.” Caine said over his shoulder from the doorway.

I laughed and helped Peter upright, loving the sight of water cascading down his sexy body. He read my mind, of course, and leaned into my touch while I dried him off. His arms went around my shoulders and his mouth nuzzled my ear. “Only if you are going to be with me in bed.”

“That could be arranged, Peter. Here, put this on before you catch cold.” I slipped his robe around him and he let go of me just long enough to belt it securely. The lights bloomed on again suddenly and I shook my head. “Straight to bed with you. It’s been a very strange day.”

“Tell me about it.” Peter didn’t seem to want to let go of me and that suited me just fine, steering him to the bedroom took only a moment. 

“Here, my son. Drink another cup of this and sleep. Tomorrow will be better.” Caine set the wicker tray on Peter’s side of the bed. “Kermit has a surprise for you that you will not want to miss.”

I’d almost forgotten my kitten rescue. Ducking down to check on them, I surprised one with his eyes open. When he squeaked at me, I chuckled and lifted him out of the nest they’d made. Peter’s eyes widened when I put the little guy on the comforter near his right hand.

“Well, it looks like our family just got bigger.” He waggled his fingers and the little imp fluffed out his fur, pouncing on the wiggling digits.  
A soft meow reminded me that the other one was awake and I leaned down and brought him up to play with his litter-mate. Caine reappeared with some more warm milk and this time, Peter got to feed the voracious kitten. For a long moment, I just watched while my lover got all maternal over the ball of fur in his hand and my father-in-law poured us both a cup of tea.

“I shall leave you until tomorrow. Rest well, both of you.” Caine bowed his head and I walked him to the door.

“Thanks, Caine.” I meant for more than the help with the kittens.

“Do not give up the love of today for fear of loss in the future.” Those wise eyes gazed deep into mine. “Family comes as it will.”

I nodded and closed the door behind him, engaging the extra locks and turning off the lights as I made my way to the bedroom. Standing in the doorway, I watched one kitten try to climb Peter’s head while he tried to fend it off and keep feeding the little guy on his chest.

“Ker-r-r-mit! Help me out here.” He laughingly plucked the mountain climber off his pillow and put him on mine.

While I strolled over to corral our new ‘kids’, I thought about the chaos and the love that our new roommates brought with them. Were they tricks or treats of the season? Stripping off my shirt brought a different kind of gleam to Peter’s eye and I shook my head at the sultry look he threw me.

Treats. Definitely treats in store.

This is your life, Kermit Griffin. You lucky, bastard.


	10. Laundry Kermit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wash day at the Griffin/Caine residence.

Laundry Kermit  
************************** 

I poured another cup of coffee and looked out over the street below. It was a quiet morning in the neighborhood and the sun highlighted the few cars parked along the curb. I had the day off and a long list of projects to complete, although the loft was pretty well finished. The big changes were done; walls dry walled; plumbing complete; electrical outlets and switches installed; oak floor refinished.

But there were a host of small projects that still needed doing and I lazily went through the list while I soaked up a little sun with my coffee. The painting was done but I still needed to varnish the windowsills. The wiring was in but the dimmer switch in the dining area needed to be installed. The shelving unit for the laundry had to be put together and set into place around the new washer and dryer just off the bathroom.

I grinned at the domestic thoughts. For most of my adult life, my laundry meant collecting quarters, clothes and detergent and traipsing down to the local Laundromat once a week to wash and dry. But now I had my very own laundry with gleaming new white appliances that just begged to be used. For some reason, this seemed like an important mile stone in Peter’s and my relationship. 

And he wasn’t even here to help me celebrate. He had to finish up some paperwork on the Heinz bust and he’d gone down to the station. Oh well, I’d just have to start without him. Finishing my coffee, I headed for the hamper in the bedroom closet. It was full to the brim and several pairs of silk boxers had fallen behind. They didn’t have frogs on them and I smirked. There was still rampant speculation about my underwear at the precinct. 

Shaking my head at the silly things people wanted to know about their co-workers, I wheeled the hamper out and over to the kitchen to collect the towels that were several days old. Sniffing one, I decided that maybe weeks old was more like it. They all went in on top of our clothes and I rolled around the corner to the mirrored bi-fold doors that hid the laundry. All the water connections were clustered together so we had our kitchen and bathroom back to back with the laundry on one side and a big pantry on the other.

I grinned at the memory of all the planning we’d done about what went where. Several trees died to provide the paper we’d used in sketches and blue prints. The lined graft paper had been our constant companion on stakeouts and our days off. Somehow, it had all come together in a harmonious whole. Caine had laid out the feng shui aspects so we were in tune with the universe, both with the room placements and the furniture. For a while we’d had the big leather chair at right angles to the sofa. But when we both avoided sitting in it, we’d laughed and moved it to where Peter’s father had said it should go in the first place.

I should have known better than to second-guess the man. 

Dumping the laundry on the floor, I started sorting out the colors from the whites. Remembering the robes on the back of the bathroom door, I detoured over there to get them. Then I checked the living room to make sure we hadn’t left anything stuffed under a sofa cushion or under the table the last time we’d made love there. There’s something about Sports Night that really turns Peter on.

Grinning, I thought about the two hot guys with their never-ending banter, which sounded so much like public love making to my attentive ears. I pulled out Peter’s favorite T-shirt from under the sofa and fished around until one of his tube socks came with it attached to one of our new kittens. “Hey, Squirt, let go. You really don’t want another bath, do you?”

He meowed plaintively and let go regretfully, only to follow me when I headed back to the laundry. I stuffed in the first load of jeans and heavy flannel shirts. Since the jeans I was wearing were my chore jeans, I slid them off and threw them in too. Setting the controls, I left it to go and strip the bed of sheets. The pillows went on the floor while I pulled off their cases. The duvet cover never got that dirty so I left it on the fluffy comforter but stripped off the sheets. We had definitely messed them up last night.

Smiling, I wondered back to the laundry with my arms full of Peter-scented linen. If I could bottle that smell, I’d make a fortune. But for now, I had to investigate the moving laundry. One of Peter’s socks was heading down the hall back to the living room attached to a little black kitten who was smaller than what he was dragging. Snickering, I made another mental note to get one of those disposable cameras so we could take pictures of our new pets while they were still in the ‘cute phase’.

Behind me, I felt our second guest dig her razor sharp kitten claws into my ankle. “Ouch! Squeak, what did I do now?”

She was named for her meow, which really did resemble a ‘squeak’, and she proceeded to tell me in no uncertain terms that I’d been neglecting her shamefully. What the hell, I had nothing better to do than play with her. So I grabbed the red rubber ball that the Ancient had given us and rolled it towards the kitchen. She scampered after it and by the time she’d batted it back to me a couple of times, Squirt had come back to investigate all the noise.

I stood up to put the first load into the dryer, slamming the door shut after first checking that I wasn’t accidentally drying a cat or two. Next up was a load of shirts and I layered them in the way my mother had taught me several eons ago. The shirt I was wearing went in as well since I couldn’t remember when I’d washed it last. The sunlight pouring in the windows had warmed the laundry so my boxers were plenty to wear while I washed.

Detouring over to our stereo system, I popped in one of my favorites – The Best of Sheena Easton. Her sweet tones filled the room and I went to get my toolbox so I could install the dimmer. While I was in the utility closet, I flipped the circuit breaker to the dining room so I didn’t electrocute myself. Taking a moment to read the instructions that came with the unit, I set about unscrewing the old switch and replacing it with the new one. First the grounding wire, then the other two and I was ready to test it.

Squirt followed me to the utility closet and proceeded to sniff out the corners in search of mice. I flipped the circuit breaker on and listened for a popping sound. No sound was good. No sparks was even better. Saying a little prayer that I hadn’t wired it in backwards, I turned the dimmer up and watched the light slowly bloom in the antique light fixture that hung over our dining room table.

The green globes that hung like upside-down lilies glowed in the brightening light. At full ‘on’, they cast enough light to read by so I backed it down a quarter turn and left it there. Just right, I decided and went back to chase Squirt out of the utility room and put my tools away. The next load was done but the jeans weren’t dry yet so I layered the wet clothes on top of the drier and threw the rest of the hamper into the washer. It was mostly underwear and I had to rescue the sock from Squirt again.

He was bound and determined to play with it so I put out some fresh crunchies in their food bowl. They both came scurrying around the corner when they heard the sound of food being poured. While they were head down, I threw the last sock in and then decided to throw in my boxers as well. Peter wasn’t the only one who could go commando.

The CD changer left Sheena and spun to play the new Neil Diamond, the Movie Album, disk one. The sweet strains of one of my favorite songs came on and I hummed along with him as we sang that old classic, As Time Goes By from Casablanca. Too bad Peter wasn’t here. I moved slowly to the music and could have used a partner.

“Um, Kermit, why are you doing the laundry naked?”

Maybe it was because I’d been thinking of him, but I didn’t even start at the sound of his voice, just held out my hand and drew him close. “It’s the only way to do the wash, Peter. I’m sure this old shirt of yours is filthy.”

He snickered as I unbuttoned him, pulling out his shirttails and stripping him as quickly as I could. “I can see that you’re dedicated to your work. The Laundromat ladies must have phoned all their friends to come by when they saw you pull up.”

I nodded sagely and pulled off his shirt, taking the time to give one of his nipples a little encouragement. “Yep, it was standing-room-only every Wednesday. You wouldn’t believe the offers I had to . . . compare detergents.”

He frowned in mock anger and his hands tightened on my hips. “I’d better be the only one you compare detergent with from now on.”

“Really.” I unsnapped the button on his jeans, giving the hardening bulk behind his zipper a quick grope. “Are you sure we won’t be missing out on some great new products by being so . . . exclusive?”

He shook his head confidently. “I’m sure. In fact, I’ve been thinking about getting something for you that will warn off any poachers.”

I unzipped him and began helping him wiggle out of his jeans. “You know, if you keep wearing these things so tight, you’re never going to have any kids. And what . . . exactly . . . are you thinking of getting me?”

“Unless you’re willing to carry the kids, Kermit, we won’t be having any.” He caught my lips with his, ravaging me with rising passion.

Holding to him with all my might, I returned his kiss with my own. Sometimes the truth of our relationship catches me unaware and I can’t believe he loves me as much as I love him. I’d come to that point in my life where I knew that I wouldn’t be looking anymore. If anything happened to Peter, I would finish out my days alone. Just . . . remembering the sweetness of loving him would have to be enough because the hole left behind couldn’t be filled by anyone else.

Breaking the kiss so we could breathe, he pressed his forehead to mine. “I was thinking that matching rings would be nice since branding went out with the Middle Ages.”

“Hm-m-m, I think that could be arranged. I’ve got a little something set aside that might do. In that safety deposit box that you’re so curious about.” I slid his jeans down with his boxers so that lovely cock bobbed before me. “Lift this leg, Peter.” When he did, I slid off his loafer and peeled off his sock.

Squirt was right there to drag off his trophy and Peter was laughing so hard that he almost overbalanced when I tapped his other leg. Leaning against the washer, he let me finish undressing him. Once his gleaming nude body was completely unveiled, I started up his leg with my tongue, cataloging his skin with fervor. He groaned and one hand gently reached down to comb through my hair.

The vibration of the washer gave our lovemaking a rather nice little buzz. Peter seemed to feel it too because he wriggled ever so slightly against the warm white metal. I moved up his leg, nipping gently at his inner thigh and nudging his heavy cock with my nose. He shivered, one hand coming down to comb through my hair. I slid one hand between his legs, ghosting callused caresses to his perineum and his puckered opening.

He hissed and wriggled his legs just a little further apart so I could get at him better. I was tormenting his rising cock with little licks and nips at all the most sensitive spots. He was hardening nicely when he suddenly jerked almost completely out of my mouth.

“Yeow! Damn it, Squeak. Keep your claws to yourself.” He was tensing but not in a good way and I looked down to see the angelic little kitten licking her paw and looking up at us with a ‘who me?’ look on her face.

But then I also saw the indents left by those needle-like kitten claws on Peter’s foot. So, I tried for stern. “Bad Squeak. No clawing allowed.”

She ignored me, of course. Cats never pay attention unless there’s food involved or some serious ear-cuddles. By now, I was trying not to laugh and not succeeding very well. Which was a serious passion-killer for Peter, who was pouting at me from the top of the washer. The drier rang then and I snickered quietly while I pulled out the dry jeans and folded them neatly into a pile on the floor.

Squirt and Squeak both thought that the nice warm pile was for them to sleep on so I let them battle it out while I threw in the next load and turned the drier back on. Hopping up on top of the drier, I cast a sideways glance at my pouting lover. “Peter, are you going to let me kiss it and make it better?”

His eyes lit up while his lips did that little pout that I found such a turn-on. “You laughed at me, Kermit.”

“Not at you, Peter. With you.” I twisted sideways and showed him my ankle and the scratches I’d gotten earlier. “She nailed me an hour ago. I think she has psychological-emotional symptomatic trauma from being abandoned in that dumpster.”

“What?” Peter frowned but started rubbing my ankle in sympathy.

“You know . . . the PEST syndrome.” I grinned at him and he growled while pulling me closer and moving my legs over his.

“Kermit, you are seriously disturbed.” He had me close enough to kiss now and between the vibrations beneath me and his tongue in my mouth, I was about to go off like a cheap firecracker.

I think I moaned once when I wrapped my legs around his waist but his hand was sliding up and down my shaft and all my concentration was on that wickedly intimate grip. His legs cradled me and I wondered again at how limber he was. He caressed all my hot spots and long before I wanted, I was filling his hand with my climax. He swallowed my cry along with my breath and I was panting when he finally pulled his sweet lips away.

“Kermit, I need to be inside you.” His eyes were sparkling in the sunlight and his voice was deeper than usual while his slippery fingers found my center and pushed slowly in.

“Oh yeah.” I sighed and trailed my mouth down his throat to the small hollow at the base where sweat liked to collect. Lapping at the salty drops of perspiration, I rasped my tongue farther down and over a nipple.

His fingers were loosening me and my orgasm had relaxed me completely so it was only a moment before he lifted me with his strong hands and I felt the warm blunt end of his cock nudge me. I left his nipple for a moment and pushed against his shoulders until he was lying flat. Reaching behind me, I guided him home. Pushing down slowly but surely, I concentrated on taking him in completely.

The thick cock forged deep until I was filled with him. Opening my eyes, I looked down at him and smiled. “Mine.”

“Yours, Kermit. I’m all yours, love.”

Starting to flex my muscles, I ran my hands over his broad chest until I could pinch his nipples. Squeezing my buttocks together, I massaged his cock while I slowly moved up until he was almost out before letting gravity bring me back down. This time he hit my prostate and I felt a warm glow start deep inside and radiate out to my skin.

I could feel myself begin to firm again. It was too soon to recover completely but it was a pleasant ache to complement the internal massage. His hands were moving slowly down my sides to tease the skin of my inner thighs and I wiggled just a bit because it felt so good. I pinched his nipples again and watched him arch into the pain/pleasure sensation. They were the most sensitive part of his body and he loved having them rubbed, licked and even bitten.

We made love slowly in the sunlight atop the gently vibrating washer and drier. When his release came, he arched within me and I felt his blood-hot essence shoot deep. We both breathed deeply and I tucked my head into the hollow of his shoulder. I still held him within me and I wished sleepily that I could keep him safe within me always.

“Damn, I’m sure glad I got home in time to help with the laundry.” His voice chuckled softly.

“Me too.”

“Every Wednesday, I think you said?”

“Without fail.”

“I can do that.”

Wriggling just a bit as he slipped from me, I mourned the loss of possession. “Yes, you can. Just wait until you experience the spin cycle.”

He laughed out loud. “Oh, I can hardly wait.” 

Just then the drier chimed again and I stretched a bit, preparing to get up. “Next Wednesday, we’ll do the sheets first.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Kermit. We just made love and didn’t get the sheets dirty at all.” He let me go reluctantly and I leaned back to kiss him.

When I pulled back, he managed to sit up and I heard his back pop in several places. “Once the next load is done, I’ll give you a massage.”

He rubbed his back and grimaced. “I’ll take you up on that. Who knew that a washer and drier could be so erotic? Hard yes, erotic no.”

I looked first but the kittens were curled up sound asleep on top of the jeans so I slid off and landed on the floor as quietly as I could. “Well, you know the old saying.”

He slid off and stretched with a wriggle that I watched with appreciation. “What old saying?”

Running a hand over his sculpted chest, I pulled him in close and kissed him gently but thoroughly. His mouth always tasted good and I savored him for a long moment before breaking off the kiss. “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”

“I don’t know about godly but I’m feeling distinctly Adam-like right now.” He grinned down at me and slowly curled his hand around my still half-hard cock.

I dragged my tongue over his skin and felt him shiver. “Well, ‘Adam’, how about we head for the shower and I’ll show you what I mean?” 

“Oh God, yes.” He lit up like a supernova and pulled me eagerly around the corner to the bathroom.

Following him was no problem what so ever and I reflected on the fact that the shirts in the drier were all going to need ironing after this. But watching the gleam in Peter’s eye was worth every wrinkled shirt that lay waiting. My lover with the godlike body was beckoning me into the Eden that was our bathroom and like Eve before me, I was more than ready for a little ‘knowledge’.

One thing I did know, from now on laundry day promised to be a lot more fun.


	11. New Year Kermit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They celebrate with a party to tell their friends their good news.

New Year Kermit  
************************** 

I made sure the champagne was chilling in the fridge while the hors d’oeuvres trays sat on the kitchen island counter. I was feeling a little nervous, trying to keep my cool and going over the arrangements for the fifth time. We’d decided to have a New Year’s party to announce some of the changes in our lives and I was wondering how many of those who were coming already knew what we were going to say.

And what they thought about it.

Peter had already changed clothes three times and he hadn’t been able to eat anything for dinner. It was almost nine and I wondered who would be the first to show. I was betting on the Captain because she already knew two of our announcements and she’d coped pretty well with both of them. Her support over the last few weeks had been a blessing.

A squeak from my feet brought my eyes down to one of our ‘kids’. Bending down, I scooped her up and cradled her under my chin. She was getting bigger but I could still hold her in one hand with ease. Using one finger, I scratched under her chin and she went into kitty-ecstasies, her purr shaking her whole body. 

“Kermit, do I look all right?” Peter’s plaintive question came from the doorway to our bedroom.

I looked at him and saw . . . perfection.

“Oh yeah!” I blinked at the vision in blue and black. He was wearing black jeans and a soft blue silk shirt with billowing sleeves that gave me a severe pain in my heart. “How about we put a sign on the door sending everyone somewhere else and I’ll help you undress?”

He laughed and came towards me with that distinctive prowl that always raises my temperature. Squeak purred a little louder while Peter kissed me softly with tenderness rather than passion. When our lips parted, he rested his forehead against mine with a sigh.

“I love you and I want to do this but I think I’m a little scared. I’ve known these people most of my adult life and I have no clue if they’re going to congratulate us or call for the tar and feathers.”

“Your guess is as good as mine, Peter. Captain Simms took it well. Mary Margaret knows too and she seems to find it hilarious.” I quit petting Squeak and she meowed pitifully.

“TJ figured it out when we ordered the bathroom fixtures and he told me that he was jealous.” Peter began stroking Squeak.

“Jealous of me, I’ll bet. He’s your age.” I suddenly felt ancient.

“No, silly. He was jealous of me because I got you first.” Peter grinned his shit- eating grin.

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” I thought of the irritating man who had so many fingers in so many pies.

“Nope, I got there first with the best.” Peter shook his head with mock solemnity. 

A knock on the door drew us apart and I took a deep breath while Peter headed for the door. Here we go, I thought with a little prayer to the Goddess of Announcements.

************* 

The twenty people in the room had broken into little clusters. Everyone was chatting easily and most of the food was gone. I had a pleasant buzz from the three drinks I’d consumed over the course of the last three hours. Peter was sitting on the floor near the fireplace with Squeak on his shoulder while Delaney dragged one of the cat toys for Squirt to pounce on. Caine and Mary Margaret were sitting rather close together on the sofa while the Ancient was doing magic tricks for Captain Simms and the Chief.

Everybody else was scattered around the room, talking shop. Get more than two cops in the same room and we all ended up talking shop. Grinning to myself, I watched the clock and headed for the fridge when it showed a quarter to midnight. There were four bottles of champagne chilling and I was pulling two of them out when a hand appeared over my shoulder to take them for me.

“Thanks, Thomas. The cork remover is on the counter behind you.” I grabbed the other two and shut the door with my hip. We’d lined up the champagne glasses earlier so once we’d popped the corks, we were ready to pour. The sound of popping corks alerted the others to the time and I suddenly had a dozen helpers. 

Once everybody had a glass, I tapped mine and got their attention.

“Thank you all for coming. We have a couple of announcements to make to start the New Year off right.” Peter was at my shoulder and I took courage from his solid presence. “First, I have to say that I’ve enjoyed working with you for the last twelve years but I’m retiring from the cop business as of 1 February.”

The groans were rather satisfying and I felt Peter’s hand caress the small of my back. I hadn’t realized just how much I was going to miss the familiar faces around me. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m taking on a second career as a writer. For the last three years, I’ve been writing a book and it’s been accepted by Houghton Mifflin. It should hit the book stores sometime this summer.”

The cheers took me by surprise and the kiss on the cheek from Captain Simms was a bonus I really hadn’t expected.

Peter took over while I was still pretending I wasn’t blushing. “Our next news is probably old news to most of you but Kermit and I are living together. We’d like you all to witness our commitment to each other right now.”

There wasn’t a sound in the place as Peter and I took our rings out of our pockets. It was like everyone was holding a collective breath. I slid a blue star sapphire set in a Celtic patterned silver ring onto the ring finger of his left hand. In turn, he pushed an emerald set in the same pattern in gold onto my ring finger. He bent his head and our lips brushed gently once before we separated to look at our audience.

These cheers could probably be heard at the precinct, I decided in a daze just before the entire crowd mobbed us. Captain Simms was brushing away tears when she kissed my cheek and murmured something about weddings under her breath. Even Delaney shook my hand and said congratulations.

“Hey, look at the clock. Where’s the champagne?” Somebody said and there was a rush to get all new drinks poured in time for the ritual countdown. Peter and I stood closely together, our eyes drinking in each other.

“Five, four, three, two, one. Happy New Year!” 

“Happy New Year, Peter.” “Happy New Year, Kermit.” We said simultaneously.

This kiss was deeper and stronger, while we pledged all our years to come to each other. Maybe Captain Simms was right about the effect of weddings on the emotions.

“Hey look, the fireworks have started.” Somebody said and I swear I blushed again until I realized that he was talking about the fireworks from the park. We had a good view out of the dining room windows and everyone crowded together to ooh and ah over the spectacular display being staged in the midst of a new snowfall.

The show lasted for twenty minutes and by the time it was over, most of our guests had decided to say goodnight. Handshakes and kisses were handed out at the door. Caine, Mary Margaret and the Ancient stayed behind to help us clear up so it didn’t take but a half an hour until they too said their goodnights.

“Welcome to the family, Kermit. How nice to know that now . . . I have two sons.” Caine’s eyes were kind and I nodded, suddenly unable to speak.

Mary Margaret’s lips were warm on my cheek then she was kissing Peter too and we finally got to close the door behind them. Resting against the solid oak paneled door, I found my hand in Peter’s. Turning my head, my gaze met his and I swear the temp went up twenty degrees. It might be snowing outside but at that moment it was summer in our loft.

“Dance with me?”

“Oh yeah.” I breathed out while pushing away from the door.

Pulling me over to the stereo, he programmed in something and turned back to me with a rather wicked look on his face. “I love you, Kermit. Forever and always.”

“My New Year blessing, that’s what you are, Peter. I love you too.” My hands went around his neck while his slid around my waist so we could dance slowly near the fireplace.

He’d picked the latest Air Supply album on random play and we danced to their love songs while interspersing the dance with champagne flavored kisses. But it wasn’t the wine that was making my head swim, Peter was intoxicating enough. The heavy silk of his shirt slid under my hands when I moved them to his back and he caught his breath when I dipped my hands under his waistband to pull out his shirt tails so I’d have skin to caress.

He returned the favor and now the kisses grew more heated while we stroked our groins together. Suddenly, it wasn’t enough and we broke apart at the same moment.

“Bed.” We chorused.

Turning off the fireplace, we made sure there wasn’t anything left out that the kittens could get into trouble with before making our way to the bathroom. We undressed each other with knowing hands that knew just where to touch to turn the heat up even higher. By the time we were under the warm water of our shower, we were half-hard and the pleasant ache grew while we soaped and rinsed each other.

Drying off with deft touches, we left everything where it fell and headed for bed. Leaving on the soft light on my side of the bed, we tumbled into each other’s arms, still kissing. We knew each other so well by now. My tongue lapped at one nipple while his hands smoothed down my flank to trigger the spot on my hip that always made me twitch.

I paused for a moment so I could watch his face. “We just got married.”

“Yep, we sure did. And there’s enough witnesses that neither of us can ever back out.” His eyes sparkled in the subdued light and I brushed my lips over that tempting mouth, savoring the Peter-taste that was so addicting.

“Forever, Peter.” I held his eyes with mine, wondering what he saw in them that brought tears to the surface.

“Forever, Kermit.” And he pulled me up over his body, spreading his legs apart so I was cradled in his embrace. “I planned a little surprise for you so I think it’s time that you unwrapped your wedding present.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant until I reached a hand down past his balls and found the plug snugly in place. “All evening?”

“Un-uh. I’ve been on a slow boil all night.” His eyes went needy on me. “You’re the only one who can put out the fire, love.”

“Oh yeah.” I breathed out before taking his lips in a searing kiss. My other hand went for the pillow and the tube of lubricant we kept there. Flipping open the top, I squeezed some out onto his fingers so he could get me ready. Those caressing fingers almost made me come but I thought cold thoughts until I could get the plug out and my fingers in to make sure he was ready for me.

His groan was heartfelt and the spasming muscle drew me in like a magnet. So tight and hot that I had to pause for a moment to make sure this wasn’t over too soon. We were both more than ready and I lifted his legs over my shoulders so I could slide home, deep inside of him. It was too good and we both took a deep breath, our eyes locked on each other.

“Make love to me, Kermit.” His hands tenderly rubbed slick circles around my aching nipples and I began the slow pull out so I could thrust back in again.

We took it slow, something in both of us needing the connection to grow stronger as we moved in passion. But the need to come outgrew our minds need to go tenderly and when I felt Peter spasm around me, I slid deep and came. His arms kept me close to his chest while his legs fell limply to either side of me. Our hearts gradually resumed our normal cadence and I felt him try to reach for the comforter we’d pushed aside when we’d tumbled into bed.

I moved to help and felt myself slip out of his body. We both groaned at the loss then pulled up the covers. We cuddled together in the middle of the bed while we got used to being two separate bodies again. I reached out of our nest to grab the wash cloth we kept by the bed for clean up purposes. We went through a lot of them in the course of a week and I felt pretty smug about that.

“What are you smirking about?” Peter’s voice was drowsy.

“Just thinking ahead to later this morning when you’ll get to clean me up.” I tossed the damp cloth to the floor for Squirt to find. They were his favorite play toy next to Peter’s socks.

He chuckled and drew me back down to his arms. “Oh yeah, love.”

Oh yeah, indeed.


	12. St. Kermit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah, St. Patrick's Day celebrations.

St. Kermit  
***************** 

I love St. Patrick’s Day. The parade is full of weirdos and strangely dressed people. Everybody drinks beer and gets silly. Not that I would ever do that, I just like to watch the crazies and sit back with my green beer, gazing at the parade through green colored glasses. And this year, I didn’t have to worry about being pulled for duty to watch the pickpockets have a field day. This year I was retired and got to stay at home going over my galley proofs.

I sent Peter off to work in a new green silk shirt that made his hazel eyes look more green than blue. Then I sat down at the computer desk to do my proofing so I could goof off in the afternoon. We’d had an unexpected warming trend and the window by my desk was open to let in the breeze. The screen was the only thing keeping Squeak and Squirt inside. They had their little pink noses pressed against the wire mesh so hard that it left imprints on them.

Little growls and tail thrashings told me that somebody on four paws was strolling through their alley and they wanted at him in the worst way. I ignored them in favor of finishing my edit of chapter twenty. I had to send the proofs back to my editor by next Friday and I didn’t want to have to take time away from Peter. But I also didn’t want to send back a half-ass job and have to look at the mistakes once the book went on sale.

Our friends would be reading this thing if only because they were curious about my past and hoped to find out more about me by reading my book. And if they read very carefully they would indeed know more about why I turned out the way I did. I just hoped it wasn’t too much.

Chapter twenty-one was clean of errors and the next chapter only had a couple so I took a break and shook some crunchies into the bowls by the dining room table. The cats came running and slid across the oak floor while I made some soup and a sandwich for me. Back to work and by four o’clock the proofing was done. All thirty-six chapters were as free of error as I could make them and I bundled them up into their mailing envelope and walked over to the post office to send them by priority mail.

It was so warm that I didn’t even need a jacket. The bank sign said it was 68 degrees and I believed it. Stopping at the deli, I got there before the after-work crowd and got all the ingredients for a St. Patrick’s Day feast including the imported beer that was not green but still good. I took the long way home and enjoyed some of the store windows decorated in leprechauns and shamrocks.

Shaking my head, I pondered just how domesticated I was and whether or not that was a bad thing. Home was a place that Peter and I had created out of love and sweat. Our equity consisted of hours of work designing and then making the images on paper a reality with wood and tile and a host of other products. Climbing the stairs, I had the same anticipation that always hit me when I finally opened the door and gazed on our home.

Nowadays, I also had to contend with the helter-skelter attack of our two fuzz balls trying to make a break for the stairs. I’d developed an almost unconscious technique of opening the door a crack, blocking it with my foot and saying ‘no’ in as stern a voice as I could manage. It worked 90% of the time and the other 10% was spent chasing down the little menaces and playing hide and seek on the three flights of stairs.

Good exercise for a man approaching fifty who was no longer on his feet all day, every day. I needed to check and see if there was such a thing as writer’s butt because mine was threatening to spread and overflow the chair. I hadn’t gained any weight but the muscle tone felt flabby to me. Maybe Caine would let me join his Tai Chi class first thing every morning.

Unlocking my front door, I grinned to myself and prepared to repel the cats. Of course, they were no where around and I swung the door open then shut it behind me quickly. Peter was home and the cats were nestled on his chest, telling him about their day. He looked up when I came in and the sultry look he sent my way promised untold delights.

I really am a very lucky man. 

“So, what are you doing home this early?” I set the bags down on the kitchen counter and pulled out the cold stuff for the fridge.

“The Captain gave me the next two days off because I’m going to have 24/7 stakeout duty starting Friday. And we don’t know how long it will last.” A pair of strong arms slid around my waist and warm lips mapped that patch of skin behind my right ear. 

Food suddenly lost its allure while my body began to react to Peter’s touch. “Well, then . . . I’ll just have to wear . . . you out so you won’t miss . . . me while you’re watching.”

“You take good care of me, Kermit. But no amount of wearing out could keep me from missing you.” He turned me in his arms and the hazel eyes were solemn. “Being with you isn’t like anything else I’ve ever experienced. I need to have a Kermit-fix everyday.”

“I love you, too.” I slid my hands around his head and brought his lips down to mine for one of those kisses that I swear involves melting. Tongues curled lazily together while hands kneaded sore muscles. Dinner was going to be late tonight because I needed him to take me to bed . . . right now.

He read my mind the way he does and I found myself being walked backwards to our bedroom. The windows were halfway open and the cool March breeze swirled around the room while we undressed each other. We had to break apart to pull the duvet back so we could slide between the flannel sheets that still adorned our antique bed.

We met in the middle and skin to skin felt so damn good that I stretched all over just to be sure that every inch of my skin met every inch of his. “This is what I’ll miss, Peter. Your warm body and the touch that makes me shiver.”

Kissing me hard, Peter did a little stretching of his own before grabbing the lube from under his pillow and putting it to good use. “I’m going to miss the sound of your voice and the way you pamper me with good food and great loving. If we’re lucky, then we’ll catch this guy before I have to kill T.J. for his incessant talking.”

Arching into his groin when he sparked my inner gland with those long elegant fingers of his, I sighed. “I’ll get you a pair of earplugs. We can’t afford to lose T.J. before he finds us a deal on a spiral staircase for access to the roof. Oh there.”

Pulling me over him, Peter lifted my hips just enough for me to guide him home. The warm blunt head pierced and stretched me into a hiss but then he was sliding deep and all I felt was the love. 

“So good, Kermit, you feel so good . . . and safe . . . and warm.” Peter’s eyes were heated and I looked down into them with a tinge of that disbelief that occasionally still surfaced from deep in my psyche.

“I love you, Peter. Now, if I’m going to be deprived of your loving for days, you need to leave me with a very strong reminder that you love me.” I sat up and used my thighs to pull up before dropping down and squeezing him.

“Oh yeah, I’ll leave you the ache that I plan on taking with me when I go.” He thrust up and I swear I saw stars when he hit my gland.

Soon, the burn was continuous and I could feel myself begin to flush. When his hand clasped my cock, it was all over while I convulsed and came hard. The warmth that flooded me at that instant told the small part of my mind that watches him that I’d wrung his release from him. But I was too busy slumping onto his chest and breathing to rejoice too much.

We lay there, cuddled under the comforter until he slipped from me with a sigh. I missed him already and his strong arms held me close when I stirred. “We’re going to be glued together if I don’t get something to clean us up.”

“Not yet, I’m not ready to let go just yet.” He turned us onto our sides and pulled me up a bit so we were nose to nose. “I need to breathe in your scent and absorb your sweat so I can pull the memory out to comfort me when you’re not there.” Then without taking a breath, he said the most amazing thing. “I’m thinking that it may be time to leave the precinct.”

All my senses went on red alert. “Something someone said or did?”

He smiled and kissed me gently. “Several somethings but that’s not why. I can take care of myself, Kermit, although I enjoy it when you help me. There’s just a missing piece to the puzzle that’s my life and believe it or not, I think it may be the Shaolin path.”

Caine was going to be ecstatic and even I was going to breathe a sigh of relief. It didn’t mean he’d be perfectly safe but I could see him growing towards his future and that was worth the occasional brush with the Sing Wah. “Have you talked to your father? And what was the catalyst?” 

“No, I haven’t and you were.” He answered with that little boy grin that always makes me melt.

“Something specific I did or just my general mastery of life?” I managed to keep a straight face when he started to chuckle. 

“Oh, definitely something specific, my Kermit.” He kissed me very gently, more a butterfly touch than our usual caress. Then those beautiful eyes were looking into mine from three inches away. “You love me. Everyday, I leave here knowing that you love me and I come home to the person who loves me best. That is a freedom that I never experienced before you. I always felt like I had to do this or be that. But with you, I can just be Peter.”

I had to swallow hard to get rid of that damn lump. “I love you, Peter, all of you, which includes the Shaolin-you and the cop-you. And knowing that you love me freed my need to write and make a home. If a leprechaun appeared right now to grant me a wish, the only thing I have left to wish for is that you would be safe and always come home to me.”

“Me too, Kermit. Don’t you see what a wonderful gift that is for me? I always knew that Pop loved me but he was so busy training me and the others, that I never really felt that I came first. And when I met you, I immediately knew that you were special. You treated me as an adult, capable of making my own decisions and letting me make them. But very soon, I could see that you were putting me first. Protecting me, supporting me and loving me. I just wasn’t sure what kind of love it was until the day I found you passed out in your office.”

I had to clear my throat again. “You will always come first, Peter.”

He grinned happily. “I know that. And you know that you will always come first with me. I’m just beginning to feel that the police path is about to branch on me. And I don’t have the talent to write like you do. But the Shaolin path is looking better and better as the months go by.”

“And the . . . somethings at work . . . aren’t the dangerous kind?” I had to tread carefully here because my first instinct was to go and kick some butt. That was the second instinct too, but I needed to back off and let him handle this.

“I’d tell you if they were, Kermit. I’m not that kind of macho idiot.” He assured me while I eyed him with slightly narrowed eyes.

“Un-huh.” I raised an eyebrow and moved my hands casually into tickle range. “Why don’t you share some of these little incidents with your patient lover?”

He tried to move but he was too late and soon I was perched atop a laughing lover who couldn’t catch his breath while I tickled him right into submission. “Pax, Kermit. I give up. Somebody left a pamphlet about AIDS on my desk and under the windshield wiper of my car. There was an off-color comment in the locker room from a guy in Vice. But the worst one was that idiot Andrews looking mournfully at me before offering his congratulations.”

“Andrews, hm-m-m? Well, you should have said ‘thank you, only the best for the best.’ Then he’d have gone off gnashing his teeth and putting some drug dealer through the wringer.” I smoothed my hands across his broad chest and tweaked his nipples.

“Oh, I did, my Kermit.” He smiled innocently up at me. “I told him that you were so voracious that I’d had to start taking vitamin supplements and laying in lubricant by the gallon.”

I started to laugh and couldn’t stop while he smiled smugly and tweaked my nipples. The very thought of my Peter solemnly declaring that he needed help to keep up with my sex drive made me giggle in a very unmanly manner. So then it was my turn to be tickled with knowing hands that knew all my hot spots and slowly hardened my cock to steel-like proportions.

“Oh my, my voracious lover is contemplating where to stick this lovely cock.” He stroked me slowly and wiggled his eyebrows but we were interrupted by the sound of a crash coming from the kitchen. “Oh, oh, we forgot to put everything away.”

I rolled off of him and stalked out to confront two ferocious looking cats crouched over the bag from the deli and swishing their tails. They were ready to do battle for their prize but they didn’t stand a chance against a man who really loves corned beef. I swooped in and rescued our meat and cheese while Peter tried to appease them with crunchies.

They stalked off with flicking tails that promised retribution of the feline-sort as soon as the disappointment healed. But for the moment, I was too busy fending off my lover while trying to make the sandwiches, which would fuel our next bout of lovemaking. His pout was kissed away and he finally gave in and helped create our dinner. We ate naked on the sofa while feeding little pieces of corned beef to our furry companions. 

Squirt liked mustard but Squeak thought it was terrible and tried to clean it off her whiskers with a good wash of paw and tongue. But soon we were done eating and Peter leaned over with a tender stroke of his hand to see if I was up for another round. “I think that a hot bath would be safe from imminent retribution.”

I hooked a hand around his neck and reeled him in for a soft kiss. “I don’t know about that, Peter. I found Squeak playing with a drip from the kitchen faucet. She was pretty put out when I fixed it with a new washer. I think she might be developing a water-fetish.”

“Then we’ll close the door with them on the other side.” He said hopefully and pulled me off the sofa. We danced to our own music all the way back to the bathroom where we began our bath ritual. Maybe everybody does it this way but when I light the candles and turn off the electrics, I always feel as if I’m stepping back in time.

Peter selected the sea-breeze bath oil and poured two capfuls under the hot water while I lit the last two candles over the tub. Caine had a friend who made both the candles and the oil so we always had a ready supply. One of these days, I was going to take classes from her on making candles. I’d always wanted to do that.

While I was lighting those last candles, Peter slid his arms around me and licked the back of my neck rather like Squeak did from the back of the couch. “You look incredibly sexy in candle light, my Kermit. Come inside of me now, please?”

Turning, I held him close and breathed in his scent. “Always, Peter, I’ll always be inside of you.” Placing a reverent kiss over his heart, I smiled at him. “Just the way that you are always inside of me.”

He smiled. “I like that but I need a physical reminder, too. This nice big cock needs to snuggle someplace warm and tight.”

I shivered and got in the tub, pulling him in after me. “No problem, Peter, I know just the place for him. But first, I need to wash every inch of your body to reclaim what is mine.”

It was his turn to shiver and he let me soap the washcloth to lather him from top to bottom. The rough terry cloth stroking over his cock made him bite his lip but when I turned him and washed his crease, he shook all over. So, I leaned in after rinsing him and tongued that well-washed hole with broad laps that made him pant. “Oh god, Kermit, that feels so good.”

I just chuckled and rolled up my tongue to stab within his spasming muscle several times while he held onto the rolled edge of the tub. “Time to open up for me, Peter. A little oil and your favorite cock will slide right into his favorite place.”

A little of the bath oil goes a long way and once he’d taken three fingers, I oiled myself and pressed in slowly. He literally shook around me, his groans making me feel ten-feet tall. Once I was firmly seated, I paused to stroke his back and wait for him to adjust to the intruder that had invaded him.

“I love the way you feel, Kermit. Remind me to take some extra vitamin-B before heading for my stakeout.” He squeezed gently around me. “Make me feel you, Kermit. Remind me who I belong to.”

“You belong to me, Peter.” I held onto his slender hips and pulled almost all the way out before thrusting back in. “In every way and forever, you belong with me.”

“Yes, I do. And in every way for the rest of our lives, you belong to me, too.”

“Exactly, my Peter.” I kept the rhythm steady while hitting his gland with every stroke. He flexed around me but I just kept stroking in and out until his back flushed from shoulder to hip and I knew he was close. Then I reached around and grasped his cock and that was it. He gasped and pulsed hot fluid into my hand while his inner muscles grasped my cock and wrung my climax from me.

We both sighed and I kissed a spot between his shoulder blades. He shivered once more when I slipped from him. But then I had my arms full of wet lover while he tried to suck my tongue out into his mouth. That was no hardship at all and we feasted on each other for a long moment before I settled back against the slanted back and he lay on my chest with his head on my shoulder.

“Happy St. Patrick’s day, Peter.” I nestled a kiss to his temple. “All wishes come true today.”

He chuckled lazily. “Who needs a pot of gold when I can have you to love me.”

“Who indeed.” I sighed and settled in to laze until the water turned cool.


End file.
